The Complicated Steps to a Simple Love
by intiMACYx33
Summary: Not just another imprint story. The story between Ava Lynch and Elijah Uley-Varn. Written in yay4shanghai universe.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: Any of the characters you recognize from the Twilight series belong to Stephanie Meyer. Any other characters belong to the talented author, ****yay4shanghai. Her stories are my favorites and you can find her in my favorite authors list on my profile. **

**Ava's POV**

_"'Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds, when life gets hard, when things change, true love remains the same."- One Tree Hill_

"You look beautiful," my mother gushed as my big sister Chloe, finished the final touches on my make -up. In all honesty, I didn't see the point of putting on all this make- up. I don't care if the make-up claimed to be a 100% water-proof, I was a cry baby and it was definitely be coming off.

"Don't tell me she's already crying," my baby sister, Hope, said as she strolled into the room. She wasn't necessarily baby anymore, 17 and supernaturally gorgeous, but to Chloe and I, Harrison and Hope would remain the babies of our family no matter how old they were.

"You better not be! Your walking down the aisle in 20 minutes, cry your eyes out after," Chloe said teasingly and Hope laughed softly besides her.

I wasn't use to being primped and beautified, as a full time working nurse, I didn't have time to find new hair styles and make up techniques. Whoever came up with the idea that nurses were some type of sex icon, were terrible off. Being a nurse was mostly hard work, but it was a rewarding career.

Chloe ran into what used to be my bedroom and grabbed a large dark bag which held my wedding dress. The dress was not easy to find and most definitely not easy to pay for. With my sister Chloe being an ex-fashion model, not even two days after I announced my engagement she dragged me through a million designer shops in order to find the "perfect" wedding dress. All the dresses were beautiful, but I had something against buying a dress that cost as much or more than my car, that made the search a bit harder.

I found the winning dress at a small boutique in Seattle. It was a bright white, slim fitting dress that ruffled near the cleavage. To be honest, I don't think Eli would care much if I walked down the aisle in a white tee shirt and jeans, but this specific dress sang to me. It was a product of many hours of overtime at the hospital, but it was well worth it.

We didn't plan a large wedding for one of the two reasons. One, we shared whatever family we had. My mother's parents died when I was a teenager and my biological father and his family didn't know me, so our guest list was kept short and limited. Reason number two being that the size of our wedding held no significance to us. My Uncle Levi said that he knew this day was coming years before, so in my mind, the fact that I was marrying my childhood love was more valuable than any multi-million dollar wedding.

"You're lucky Ava," Chloe said as she proceeded to take my hair out of the curlers. She was almost as ecstatic as me when it came to the wedding, almost.

We were lucky, something that my mother never fails to remind us. Fate had been extremely generous to us, blessing my mother with the unconditional love known as an imprint, my sister Chloe with a successfully modeling career and an extremely wealthy husband the Hollywood producer, and me, with Eli. To other people, it might seem like fate ripped me off. My mother was a star a dancer, my sister a top model, and the best thing I had to show was my best friend. I'd never look at it like that though, because there was not a thing in this world I would trade my relationship with Eli for.

*~*

I don't remember as clearly as I wish I did the first day Mark and Jordan introduced Eli to our large extended family. Eli was adopted by Mark and Jordan, just like Phil had adopted Chloe and I. When I was little, Mark and Jordan were my favorite wolves. Jordan bought me pretty picture books about ballerinas and Mark was my very first crush. At four years old, I was in complete puppy love with Mark Uley-Varn. My mom told me it was not appropriate to have crushes on married men, so my "love" for Mark was short lived.

Eli was born deaf like Levi Varn. When I was younger, I couldn't imagine what it would be like to live a life without sound. You could never hear voices or the simple beat of a song, a world without music seemed terrifying. I noticed several times before Eli came around that Levi seemed so sad at times, I could never tell if it was because he was deaf or just because he missed Devlin. I couldn't fathom what it must feel like to lose a sibling, I loved my family entirely too much to lose any of them.

Some people didn't understand how Eli and I worked. Communication was the key to connection, so how could I bond with someone that couldn't hear me? Unlike Levi, Eli was not completely deaf. If I spoke loud and clear enough, he could understand me, but that didn't stop me from learning sign language better than English. Although most of our conversations were signed rather than spoken, there was nothing a hearing man could give me that Eli couldn't.

Eli and I had shared two common traits as children that made us becoming friends inevitable. We both were the most carefree of children and had boundless energy. We were the child duo, never separated for a period of time longer then two days. When Mark and Jordan brought him to Disney Land when he was seven, I cried the whole week. There wasn't a person in this world I loved more than him; I knew that at a young age, the love just gradually changed over the years. If we would have remained best friends and nothing more, I could have been okay with it, but thankfully that's not what life had in store for us.

He was and still is everything to me. In my short 25 years he had been; my best friend, my first crush (second if you count his father), my boyfriend, my fiancé, and by the end of today, he'd be my husband.

One of the many things I love about Eli and I is that everything about us came naturally. Growing up in La Push, I realized that most of the couples were the product of imprinting. Although imprinting seemed great, I liked having the reassurance at the end of the day that Eli was with me because that's what he wanted; a mythical force hadn't demanded he fall in love me. Falling in love was confusing enough, no need to make it more complicated.

It wasn't the simplest thing getting to this point, but that didn't really matter because I was going to be Ava Uley-Varn, and that's all that mattered now.


	2. Welcome to The Family

**Disclaimer: Any of the characters you recognize from the Twilight series belong to Stephanie Meyer. Any other characters belong to the talented author, ****yay4shanghai. Her stories are my favorites and you can find her in my favorite authors list on my profile. There are also five other amazing authors doing spin off in yay4shanghai universe; liljenrocks, ari11990, AsagariMelody, Guzhong, and twihardcaligurl, dll10. **

**Thank you for all the reviews! I tried to reply to all of them but if I didn't, I'm sorry. **

**Ava's POV**

_"Sometimes in life, you find a special friend. Someone who changes your life just by being a part of it. Someone who makes you laugh until you can't stop. Someone who makes you believe that there really is good in the world_"- Unknown

"Phil, do I have to go?" I whined sleepily before burying my face back into the pillow. If it had been any other day I would have been more than happy to run around with all the other wolf kids, but not today. Today was one of those rare days where I was tired and not in the mood to do anything but sleep.

"Yes Ava, don't you want to meet your new cousin?" Phil asked and I felt the one side of the bed sink slightly under the pressure of him sitting down. He was never going to go away.

I loved Phil, a lot; he was the closest thing to daddy Chloe and I had. Mom met him at the dance studio one day when he came to pick up Maddie Ateara and he's been around every since. He made my mom happy, so I didn't mind letting him into our little family… sometimes Chloe did, but sometimes she was just mean. Phil wasn't exactly normal, he was a wolf, something I had to pinky promise not to tell anyone. Phil was one of the many wolves that had to protect the people of La Push from the bad things, also known as vampires.

"Not today, maybe tomorrow," I mumbled and if Phil was really a nice person, he would have just left me alone to sleep the day away, but obviously, he is not.

He pulled my pink princess comforter off me and started tickling me until I was gasping for breath.

"Okay, okay! I'm up," I said between fits of laughter. I sat up, rubbing my green eyes tiredly. Phil smiled at me before kissing the top of my head and disappearing out of my room and down the hallway.

I stumbled out of my bed and into the hallway with a blanket wrapped around me like a robe.

"Mom!" I yelled, standing on my tip toes so I could see over the balcony.

"Good morning Ava," Mom replied from her spot below in the living room.

"Ava, Mom said if you hurry up we can watch the new dance movie before the party," Chloe yelled, looking up at me.

I ran down the stairs, nearly tripping on my blanket/robe thing on the way. Phil chuckled at me as I hobbled over to the couch and snuggled up next to my mom.

"Where's the party at?" I asked curiously.

"At Claire's house," my mom replied while playing with my messy hair. I smiled; I like Aunt Claire.

"Is Kim going to be there?" I asked excitedly.

"Yes, of course." Aunt Kim was my favorite wolf girl. She always told Chloe and I funny stories about the wolves when they were little kids.

"Is Soli coming?" I asked excitedly. I loved Soli, but she disappeared often, so you could never be sure if she would be around. My mom and Soli were friends, although Phil didn't seem to like her much. Whenever Soli was around Phil got very serious and found reasons to leave.

"Yeah baby, everyone is going to be there," she said with a smile but I felt my own lips turn into a frown.

Everyone would be there, expect Devlin. I was too young to fully understand death, I'd been told this countless times, but I did know one thing, death was final. Once someone was gone, they couldn't come back. Everyone missed Dev, but how much we missed him didn't seem to matter, he wasn't coming back. I heard people saying a lot that 'he was in a better place'. Where was that better place though? Wasn't the best place with his family? I knew I wouldn't want to be in any place without Mom, Chloe, and even Phil.

"Not Devlin," I said with my bottom lip quivering.

Devlin was my friend. Most teenagers didn't want to waste their time with little girls like me, but Devlin was different. He brought Chloe and me to the beach one time and if I asked nicely he would push me on the swing set Phil bought for our new house. I didn't like death. One moment he was there and then the next, he wasn't.

My mom sighed and pulled me closer to her, "I know you miss Dev, everyone does Ava. He wouldn't want us to be sad forever. Today is going to be a good day," she said and she always made me feel better, because she was the best.

Mom started the movie which distracted me from thinking about Devlin. It was about a dancer and her journey to becoming a professional ballerina. I liked movies like this, but Chloe loved them. She wanted to be a star dancer just like our mom, she had told me her big plan, she was going to go to the same dancing school as mom and become a professional ballerina when she grew up. Phil watched it with us too, but he looked really bored. We all hoped the new baby in mommy's tummy would be a boy so Phil could have someone to do all those 'boy things' with.

"I don't think he likes this movie," I whispered to Chloe.

"Yeah, it's cuz it's not about cars!" Chloe whispered back loudly. Phil looked over at us and laughed while shaking his head. Chloe responded by sticking out her tongue at him.

"Chloe, don't stick your tongue out at Phil. It's not polite," Mom said.

Chloe nodded, but the minute mom turned away, Chloe stuck her tongue out again.

"I seen that Chloe."

Mom was good.

*~*

"It's snowing!" I said happily as my mom took my hand in hers. Phil was standing close behind us in case one of us slipped. Mom had to be extra careful now that she was pregnant with the new baby.

"I know, maybe Taylor will take you sledding again," Mom said smiling down at me.

"He is so cute!" Chloe exclaimed while jumping into the car.

Maddie had told us a story one time about how she kissed Taylor Wahalla, but Melody got real mad so she didn't do it again. He was a cutie, but he already had a girlfriend, Melody Varn.

"No dating till you're 30," Phil said from the front seat.

30!? That was a long, long time away.

"30?" Mom said with a giggle and Phil leaned in and kissed her quickly.

"You're right; 35," Phil added and I silently watched as Chloe's eyes widened.

"No way! I'm not waiting that long," Chloe said and kicked the back of his seat.

"Chloe Elise, don't kick the seats."

"I'm not waiting until I'm 35 to date, tell him mom!" Chloe yelled.

"Okay Chloe, how about 25?" Phil teased, I giggled and Chloe huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. She stayed like that for the whole ride to Claire's.

Almost everyone was at Claire's when we got there expect for; Anna, Michael, Levi, Mark and Jordan. I knew Mark and Jordan were coming; they had to introduce our new cousin to the family. Chloe ran off with Maddie as soon as we walked in, so I wondered into the kitchen with the big wolf girls.

"Hey cutie, you excited about the new baby?" Aunt Kim asked and I nodded, making my way over to sit on her lap. Not everyone knew about the new baby, everyone was so sad mom didn't want to tell them yet.

"You'll be a great big sister Ava," Aunt Kim said and I beamed at her. I'd always been the little sister; I couldn't wait to be the big one.

"Where's Chloe?" Trisha said as she walked into the room with Sammy and Sarah. Sammy and Sara were nice, they just didn't talk to Chloe and me much; they played with each other and no one else. Chloe said they were stuck up, but then Chloe was just mean sometimes.

"With Maddie, is Levi coming?" I asked hopefully. Levi didn't come around much anymore; it was almost like we lost both of them when Devlin died.

"He should be," Kim said and as if on cue, I heard the front door open. I jumped off Kim's lap and ran back into the living room. I smiled at Michael, Anna, and Levi as they walked in the door.

'Hi, I missed you' I signed slowly, trying to make sure I did it right. I didn't know much sign language; Uncle Jordan had only taught me a few things.

He looked at me for a moment before walking away. I felt that stupid uncomfortable lump in my throat form, did I do something wrong? Levi was always nice to Chloe and me, but today, he just wasn't the same Levi.

"He didn't mean to ignore you, he's just kind of sad today," Anna explained kneeling down so she was at my height.

I nodded quickly before running off to find Mom or Chloe. I found Mom first, talking to Claire. She was telling everyone about her pregnancy, and the other girls who didn't know yet were all screaming and hugging. When they were done I put my arms up for her to pick up me, impatiently waiting for Mark and Jordan to get here. After about ten minutes Mark and Jordan finally walked in, carrying the newest addition to the family, Elijah Uley-Varn.

Elijah, nick named 'Eli' for short, was in foster care for a few years until he was rescued by Mark and Jordan. Eli was really lucky to have Mark and Jordan for Dads, something I think he already knew. He wore big glasses that covered his brown eyes and a mess of curly covered his head. He was not like the boys from school, the number one reason for that was because he was entirely silent.

"He's deaf sweetie," Mom said answering my question before it was even asked.

"Oh," I said simply, maybe he and Levi could be friends.

I watched him bounce all around the house, waving and signing wildly to everyone. He made his way over to me about ten minutes after being placed on the floor by Jordan.

'I'm Ava,' I signed with a wave and he smiled.

He signed something to me that I didn't understand fully, so I looked up at Mark, who was conveniently standing next to me

"I don't know what he meant," I said sheepishly, embarrassed that I didn't know sign language as good as the others.

Mark signed something to him and Eli signed something back quickly.

"He wants to know if you want to play," Mark explained with a smile.

I nodded happily, talking to the grown ups was getting boring, "Yeah! Can you ask him if he wants to play hide and seek?" I asked.

Mark signed that to him and Eli nodded his head, "He can understand you if you talk loud and clear too," Mark explained before walking off.

"You can hide, I'll count," I said slowly, making sure he understood each word before saying the next.

He nodded and I turned around, covering my eyes with my hands. I counted to ten in my head before I uncovered my eyes and took off to find Eli. I ran up the stairs and opened the first door on the right side. It was the storage room, filled with boxes and things.

I stood on my tip toes to reach and turn on the light, then knelt down to look under the bed and then in the closet, no Eli. There wasn't really anywhere else to hide in this room, so I shut the door and ventured into the next room.

The next room belonged to Maddox. I had been in here before it looked like a huge garden.

Playing hide and seek with Eli was harder than playing with Chloe or anyone else because while Chloe would usually laugh and give away her location, Eli remained silent.

I noticed an odd lump in the pile of clothes at the bottom of Maddox's closet. I gently walked over to the pile and threw aside a red top and a pair of jean shorts, that revealed Eli underneath.

"Found you!" I exclaimed and touched his hand. He was warm, not as warm as Phil and the rest of the wolves though.

"You," I paused and pointed to him, "count," I said and held my hand up, placing fingers down to resemble 'count'.

He looked confused for a moment before putting together what the actions meant. He nodded, his curly hair flopping around slightly.

I ran to Harley's room, which was the room directly across from Aunt Claire and Uncle Quil's room. Harley's room had the most stuff in it, making it the best spot for hiding places. I shut off the light and dove under Lee's baby blue comforter. I heard Eli's footsteps in the hall way, he opened the bathroom door before stumbling into to Lee's room. The light flicked on and I felt him jump onto the bed. He hit me lightly from on top of the covers and then pulled them back with a grin. His spot underneath the clothes had been much better.

We were going to play again when I heard my Mom's voice calling for me. It took me a minute to remember how to say 'come on'.

'Come on' I signed slowly and he must of understood because he followed me down the stairs and into the kitchen.

The kitchen was crowded and I kept glancing over to make sure Eli was still next to me, he still was. It was nice have someone by my side. Usually Chloe and Maddie ran off together, doing things I was still 'too young for'. We were all still friends, but being the youngest of the circle was rarely ever fun.

I reached up to grab cookies for Eli and me but was distracted by a loud cry. I turned my head around quickly to see who was crying and was shocked to see tears falling down Soli's face. Soli had taken one look at the cupcake/cake thing and burst into tears. Soli never cried, so why was she crying over a cupcake?

"H—he… th—the—Devlin loved th-those stupid cupcakes!" Soli cried, Randy rushing to her side.

Devlin. Today wasn't supposed to be a sad day, but whenever his name was said it made me want to join in with Soli and cry.

"Why is she crying?" Chloe asked as she walked up and took a cookie from off the table. I grabbed two cookies, handing one to Eli, before shoving one in my mouth hungrily.

"Devlin," I said simply, afraid if I said more I would start crying too. I didn't want to cry in front of my new friend and cousin.

Chloe's mouth formed an 'o' shape, "Is she gonna be okay?"

"She'll be fine, Chloe," Phil said as he walked into the kitchen. He always sounded so weird when he talked about Soli, I could never figure out why though.

Soli walked back in a few minutes later, smelling a lot like smoke and standing closely to the other wolf girls. I watched her from a distant sign something to Levi and he signed something back, at least he was talking to someone.

I sat with Eli as we continued to steal cookies when the adults weren't looking. We'd take turns, one of us taking the cookie while the other made sure no adults were coming. I knew Phil noticed after awhile, he always caught onto to everything.

After awhile Jordan walked over, stealing Eli from me and receiving a glare for it too. According to Aunt Kim, it had been a long day for the new family of three, and they were getting ready to leave. Anna, Michael, and Levi left first; I didn't even bother trying to sign goodbye to Levi. I knew we'd be leaving soon too; Mom got tired a lot more since she was pregnant and she would probably want to sleep.

"Ava, say goodbye to everyone, your mom is ready to go," Phil said as he came into the living room where I was sitting with Brady and Annie. I sighed; I didn't want to leave yet. There use to be a lot of pack parties, but this party took so long to happen, I didn't know how long it would be till the next one.

"Five more minutes," I said while pushing out my bottom lip.

"Yeah, just five more minutes," Chloe said from his said with big sad eyes that you just couldn't say no to. Chloe and I were a good team.

"Oh no, don't give me those faces. Say bye to Brady and Annabelle," Phil said.

I looked at him in shock. How could he say no!?

"Bye Brady, bye Annie," Chloe said sadly with a little wave.

"Do they always do this?" Annie asked as she hugged me.

Phil chuckled, "Everyday."

I walked into the kitchen, giving hugs and saying bye to the remaining people.

'Bye' I signed to Eli, Mark was holding him as he lazily rested his head on Mark's shoulder. Mark placed him on the ground and he shot over to me, hugging me and then Chloe and my mom before being picked back up by his other father, Jordan.

"He's precious, Jay," Mom cooed, resting her hand on her not very pregnant looking belly.

"We're precious!" Chloe exclaimed.

"Precious monsters," Phil muttered under his breath.

"I heard that," Chloe said glaring at him.

He picked her up and kissed her loudly on the cheek. We waved our final goodbye to everyone and walked out into the cold air.

"Can Eli come over tomorrow?" I asked Mom hopefully before we even got to the car.

Mom yawned then nodded, "Sure, we'll call Mark and Jordan tomorrow and see what they're doing," she promised.

I smiled; I couldn't wait to see my new friend again.


	3. The wonderful adventures of Ava Lin

**Disclaimer: Any of the characters you recognize from the Twilight series belong to Stephanie Meyer. Any other characters belong to the talented author, yay4shanghai. Her stories are my favorites and you can find her in my favorite authors list on my profile. There are also five other amazing authors doing spin off in yay4shanghai universe; liljenrocks, ari11990, AsagariMelody, Guzhong, and twihardcaligurl, dll10.**

**Thank you to everyone that reviewed!**

**Ava's POV**

"_If you live to be 100, I hope I live to be 100 minus 1 day, so I never have to live without you."__**- **_** Winnie the Pooh**

The months after Eli's arrival were easy months, not much "wolf drama" as my Aunt Kim likes to call it. Mom and Phil were busy preparing for the new baby and their wedding. I was so excited for Mommy's wedding; I knew she'd make the best bride ever. Soli and Randy were talking about getting married too; I had helped her look at really pretty dresses online one weekend when I stayed at her house. Talk of weddings and new babies helped the pack get back into a schedule of normalcy since Devlin's death.

Things had been better for me since Eli came around. I wasn't left out anymore when Maddox and Chloe would run off together to do 'big girl things'. Eli and I were constantly at each other's side, making sure neither of us was ever left alone with no one to play with. I loved the pack so much, but sometimes, they could be overwhelming if you didn't have a friend. He fit right in with the family though, weaving his way into everyone's hearts without even trying.

Eli had had a hard life before Uncle Mark and Jordan adopted him. I didn't know anything about foster care and homes; I had never had to worry about things like that. My mom was a good mom; she would never abandon Chloe or me. I found myself disliking his real parents even though I didn't know them. Why would they have him if they didn't want to take care of him? How could they be so mean?

My mom explained to me that I shouldn't dislike people I didn't know. She said that some people aren't ready for babies when they have them, so they give them to families that are ready to be parents. It wasn't that people who put their children up for adoption were cruel; they were doing what they could so their children could have a better life. I looked at it differently after that; I liked whoever his mom and dad were because without them, I wouldn't have my best friend.

Chloe says it's weird to be best friends with a boy, but mom said she's too opinionated, whatever that means. He wasn't mean like most of the boys from my school. He didn't make fun of me for liking dance or my dolls, he was different.

Eli couldn't go to the same school as Chloe, Harley, Maddox, and me. He went to a special school in Port Angeles with Levi. I wished sometimes he went to our school, but some of the kids were really mean and I didn't want them to hurt his feelings if he knew what they said. Kids make fun of Eli because he's deaf and they make fun of me because he's my friend. It use to hurt my feelings when I would overhear them saying stuff, but it doesn't anymore. They were mean and weren't my friends, why should I care what they thought?

"I hate Ally Bennet!" Chloe yelled as she slammed her lunch tray onto the table. I looked at her worriedly while Harley had big interested eyes. Maddox didn't sit with us at lunch; she had a different lunch time with the older kids.

"What'd she do?" Harley asked eager to hear how Ally had got onto my sister's bad list.

Chloe doesn't like a lot of people. If it wasn't for me being her sister, she probably wouldn't like me much either. She doesn't like the Uley girls, she only likes Phil sometimes and only a selected few from school are lucky enough for Chloe to like them.

"She said me and Ava don't belong at this school cause we're not Quileutes!" Chloe shouted angrily.

A lot of people said that about us, they said it about Maribel and Mom too. It was one of the few things that actually did bother me. I loved my new family, it wasn't my fault I couldn't be Quileute like them. Phil wasn't full Quileute, but he was half, so he was welcomed in La Push. The new baby will be lucky that it won't ever have to deal with this.

Harley scoffed, "She's stupid!"

"Oh,I know!" Chloe said dramatically with a mouth full of cookies.

I didn't know who Ally was but I was pretty sure she had just walked past our table because of the look Chloe was giving her. It was the same glare she gives mom and Phil when they say no to something. Chloe isn't very understanding.

She whispered something to the short girl she was walking with before turning around and laughing at us. I hadn't heard what she said, but Chloe must have.

"Shut up Ally!" Chloe yelled.

I put my head in my hands, already knowing what was going to happen next. It was times like this I missed Eli the most. Together we could calm down Chloe, but alone, I couldn't control Chloe, especially with Harley in presence.

She turned around and rolled her eyes, "Go back home, no one wants you here!" she spat at Chloe and her friend nodded in agreement.

"No one wants _you _here!" Harley joined in. Her time spent with Soli was obviously rubbing off on her.

"I am home!" Chloe defended, "Right, Ava?" Chloe asked and I silently wished the floor would open up and swallow me.

I didn't like fighting; it took up too much energy and wasted good time. My mom and Phil rarely fought but when they did, I hated it. Someone's feelings always got hurt in a fight and I didn't want that for anyone. Chloe always seemed to enjoy a good fight though.

I nodded, hoping, more like praying, that would be the end of it. I didn't have as much spunk as Chloe and Harley.

"Maybe you should sign it to her; she doesn't seems to understand. Half-tard just like Eli," she said and I hated the way she said his name. She said it as if she knew she was better than him.

She wasn't.

I couldn't hold my tongue anymore. "That's not nice; he never did anything to you!" I hated that people made fun of Eli. Eli was nice; he would never make fun of anyone.

"Don't talk about our cousin!" Chloe howled.

"Oh yeah?" she paused, "What are you going to do about it?" she taunted with a smile on her face.

That was the last thing she said before Harley shot up from her sit and hit her in the face with her lunchtray, something I know she learned from Soli.

*~*

We probably looked really funny sitting in the principal's office all together. It was Chloe, me, and Harley on one side and Ally on the other. I wasn't use to getting in any trouble but Chloe and Harley looked unfazed as they talked to each other.

I wasn't surprised when Phil walked into the office instead of Mom. Phil kept my mom away from any situations that would upset her, and I'm sure she would not be very pleased right now. Phil didn't look very happy and he's usually a lot less strict than mom.

"Mr. Lynch?" Principle Robinson called as she came out of her office, "Why don't you bring Chloe and Ava back here?" she said, glaring at Phil in a way Chloe could never match.

Principle Robinson was a young but according to Chloe and Harley from past experiences, not very nice lady. She looked mean, everything from her short dark hair and black eyes were scary.

"Come on, girls," he said and Chloe and I followed behind him. He was stiff and too serious.

The office was small and the walls were painted a dark blue, almost black. The room gave me a sad feeling, opposite to my pink and yellow bedroom. There were three chairs in front of her desk and I giggled as I watched Phil attempt to fit into one.

"Why don't you explain to your uh, father what happened, Chloe?" Principle Robinson said with her eyes looking down at the papers on her desk.

"That girl is stupid," Chloe explained simply. Sometimes I don't understand how Chloe and I are related, she never thinks before she says something.

"Chloe Elise, stop it!" Phil hissed, running his hand through his short hair. We all knew Phil was praying the new baby would not be such a handful.

"She is. She told me and Ava that we shouldn't live in La Push and she made of Ava for being friends with our cousin Eli cuz he's deaf!" Chloe defended herself and Phil started to look a little less mad. He always felt bad when people would say mean things about me, Mom, and Chloe living on the rez.

"That's no reason to hit someone," Principle Robinson said looking up at Chloe.

Chloe didn't really hit her, she had only pulled on her hair to get her to let go of Harley. I don't think that the principle would have cared much if I told her that though.

"I understand that, now, what did Ava have to do with any of this?" Phil asked and he looked over at me.

"She wasn't exactly stopping them, Mr. Lynch," she said and I looked at her wide eyed. How was I supposed to stop them!? Everyone knew Chloe and Harley were unstoppable once they were together!

"It's not my daughter's responsibility to control other students."

Thank you Phil!

"She was still an accomplice to this whole argument and therefore needs to be punished along with her sister," she said and even though I didn't know what accomplice meant, I didn't like this lady.

"An accomplice? She's six years old!"

"We don't use age as an excuse at this school Mr. Lynch," she paused, "Take the girls home for the day until everything cools down. Consider this a warning," she said glaring at Chloe before getting up to walk us. Chloe stuck her tongue out at her when she was turned around and Phil shook his head at her.

We walked out to the car with Phil holding onto my hand. A couple months Mom and Phil watched something on the news about a girl my age getting hit by a car, so now they refuse to let me walk anywhere cars are without holding someone's hand.

I didn't understand how getting to leave school early was 'punishment'. I liked school, but I liked being home more.

"Phil, I'm I grounded?" Chloe asked with big puppy dog eyes that may have worked on Phil before, but not anymore. He had learned every trick Chloe and I had mastered to get out of things.

"Probably," Phil said simply as we reached his car.

Poor Chloe.

*~*

"Mom, that's not fair! I didn't do anything, why can't I go over Eli's?" I said as I felt a lump form in my throat. I was trying not to cry, crying was for babies, but my mom had pinky promised to bring me over Eli's today.

"Not today," she said not taking her eyes away from the big book she was reading.

"You promised!" I howled. I felt the warm tears on my cheeks and wiped them off with the back of my hand. My mom always kept her promises, but not today!

"I know. I'll bring you tomorrow, Ava," she said.

"Why tomorrow and not today?" I said and flopped down on the couch next to her.

She shut her book and placed it on the other side of her.

"It's not very fair for me to bring you to Eli's and make Chloe sit here when you both got in trouble. You can go tomorrow right after school."

Tomorrow was too far away. I would have to sit all through school again before I could play with him and I didn't want to wait. It wasn't fair; Chloe got to see her best friend Harley, every day.

"Please?" I tried one last time and sighed loudly when she shook her head.

"Tomorrow Ava," she paused and stood up from the couch, "I'm going to take a nap, Phil's in the basement if you need him," she said before kissing the top of my head and walking up the stairs.

I followed shortly after and ended up in Chloe's room. She was watching a ballet on the T.V. Phil bought her for Christmas.

"I thought you were going to Eli's?" she asked, her eyes still glued to the screen.

"Mom won't take me!" I yelled sadly.

"Walk. You can take that shortcut Devlin and Levi showed us," she said and I smiled widely at her.

Devlin and Levi had showed Chloe and me the short cut a long time ago. It was before they turned into werewolves. The shortcut would get me to Uncle Mark and Jordan's house really quick; I just had to walk through the woods. Devlin made us promise him that we wouldn't ever walk back in the woods alone, but this was an emergency, he'd understand.

"You're smart," I replied before quickly running off into my room and grabbing my Princess back pack. I dumped out my school folders and stuffed it with two coloring books and crayons. Eli had a lot of toys, Uncle Jordan and Mark spoiled him, but he only had boy stuff, so I would bring my own sometimes.

"I wanna come," Chloe whined and shut off the T.V.

"You can't, you have to make sure nobody notices I'm gone," I whispered, Phil and his werewolf hearing always ruined the best of plans.

"You can't go in the woods alone, you promised Dev and Levi," Chloe said loudly with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Shh! He's going to hear you."

She rolled her eyes, "Mom will get up soon so don't stay forever," she said before turning her ballet back on.

I tip toed down the hall and checked Mom's room, she was still sleeping. I made my way down the stairs, trying my hardest not to make any noise. I looked both ways as if I was crossing the street and ran to the front door. It was unlocked which was a good thing because I still didn't know how to unlock it.

It was the beginning of March and the sun was out, something that didn't happen a lot here. I was glad it was sunny because the woods would be too scary to walk through in the dark. My mom said the woods were 'off limits' for Chloe and me. She had told us it was too big for little girls like us, but this was different.

I wondered around for a little bit, just looking around. Everything was so pretty and covered with snow; I wish Mom would let us come in here. There didn't seem to be anything scary and bad about it, expect the stupid noises of animals I would hear. I walked around for a little bit more before I started to get confused and cold. I couldn't get lost out here, they'd never find me! It was like a bad game of hide and seek. I felt tears well up in my eyes before I seen the cabin through the trees. I smiled and ran in that direction quickly.

I loved being at the cabin. I loved it even more now that Eli was here, but it had always been one of my favorite places. It was always warm inside and Uncle Mark and Jordan never yelled at me and Chloe. They were my favorite wolves, besides Phil, I liked him best, most of the time.

Now that I was here, I wasn't sure how I was going to get in. If I went to the front door, Mark or Jordan would call mom or Phil. I remembered that sometimes Eli would leave his bedroom window open a little bit because he liked the breeze. His room was on the back side of the house, so I very quietly made my way to that side. Werewolves and their stupid good hearing made things so hard!

I tip toed up to see window and smiled when I seen it was open. Eli was running back in forth in his room, grabbing different toys and putting them on the floor. I wasn't sure how I could get him to see I was here, if I yelled he might be able to hear me, but so would Mark and Jordan. I picked up a small stone from the grass and threw it into the window. The stone hit the back of his head and he turned around now facing the window. He rubbed his eyes under his thick glasses with his hand before walking over to the window.

'Sorry' I signed, feeling bad that I hit him in the head to get his attention.

'How did you get here?' he signed, looking around confused.

'I walked' I signed with a smile.

His eyes widen and he hit my hand softly, his way of telling me that I did something I shouldn't have, 'Don't do that! You're not allowed to be in the woods' he signed.

'Sorry' I apologized and he nodded, he always forgave me.

I never crawled through a window, but Aunt Kim always told me stories about how Phil and his best friend Solace, would sneak into girl's houses that way. Phil wasn't exactly graceful, so if he could climb through a window I could, right?

Wrong!

With the help of Eli, I landed on the floor with a loud bang. He squealed at the sight before helping me up. After that, I was very thankful for doors.

I was good at sign language, I thought so anyways. Melody had taught me some before Eli came around so I could talk to Levi and after Eli was adopted, Uncle Jordan had taught me a lot more. Chloe thought it was boring, but I wanted to learn, I never wanted Eli to feel left out because he couldn't hear. Everyone needed a friend.

I ripped out a picture in my coloring book and handed it to him. I gave him a picture with three dogs because they reminded me of his dogs Solace, T and Call. Chloe and I had wanted a dog for a long time, but Phil said 'one wolf in the house is enough'.

'Can we live together when we're grown up?' It was a random thought, but it sounded so fun, to always be with my best friend.

'Only if we can have a dog' he signed with a smile. He was missing one of his front teeth; he'd lost it last week. We stayed up until one in the morning waiting for the tooth fairy, but she came after we fell asleep.

'A big dog?' I signed and he nodded happily.

I finished coloring my picture first; it was of a ballerina that reminded me of Chloe. I wondered if Mom woke up yet, I hoped not, she'd go crazy if she knew I was here, and if she went crazy, so would Phil. Mom shouldn't be up for awhile and Phil didn't usually check on Chloe and I unless we were fighting.

Eli's bedroom door flew open and I jumped into the air. I looked over to see Uncle Mark standing in the doorway.

"Running away, Ava?" he asked with a smile.

"No, I just wanted to come over, "I explained innocently.

"You might have wanted to tell your parents that, parents get worried when their children go missing," he said wisely. He always knew everything.

"Do they know?" I asked, praying they didn't know yet.

"Afraid so, Phil's on his way to get you." I was dead, so very dead!

Mark must have noticed the look of fear on my face, "He's not mad, he's just worried," I said and I nodded slowly.

"Come on," he said while signing it to Eli. Eli was looking over at us, trying to read our lips as we spoke. He nodded and followed us down the hall way and into the kitchen.

"6 years old and he's sneaking girls in his room, I'm impressed," Mark's twin brother, David, said with a smile. I was surprised he was here; he was never at the cabin.

Jordan glared at David before asking the question I was hoping they would forgot to ask, "Ava, how did you get here?"

I bit my lip nervously, not wanting to admit how I got here. Eli must have noticed because he signed something quickly to them before I got the chance to speak.

"You walked here?" Mark asked and I nodded, keeping my eyes glued to the floor.

"Ava, do you have any idea how dangerous that is?" he paused, "You know better, what if something would have happened to you?"

"Nothing happened," I whined. Adults worried too much.

I noticed car lights in the driveway. Phil. I sighed, but I would have to deal with this sooner or later.

'Love you' I signed. It was a habit I started after Devlin died. I never knew when was going to be the last time I talked to someone, so I always wanted to make sure they knew I loved them.

I hugged Eli before running off to be grounded for the rest of my life.


	4. Things Change

**Disclaimer: Any of the characters you recognize from the Twilight series belong to Stephanie Meyer. Any other characters belong to the talented author, yay4shanghai. Her stories are my favorites and you can find her in my favorite authors list on my profile. There are also five other amazing authors doing spin off in yay4shanghai universe; liljenrocks, ari11990, AsagariMelody, Guzhong, and twihardcaligurl, dll10.**

**Thank you to everyone that reviewed! I try to reply to all of them, but if I don't, I'll try too the next time. **

**A/N: Sorry this took so long to get out, exams suck:( I would have had this up Friday but the uploader isn't working. Review(:**

**Ava's POV**

"If you judge people, you have no time to love them."  
_- Mother Teresa_

"Ava, sit still so Letty can do your hair or mom isn't gonna let you be in the wedding!" Chloe yelled. She was so cranky today!

"Sorry Letty," I said and put my head down. My head felt heavy and hot with all the plastic curlers in my hair.

I didn't know Leticia, she moved away a long time ago with her pretty husband, Embry. She seemed nice, but she talked kind of funny and I couldn't understand her words sometimes.

"You're fine, bebe," Leticia said before spraying my hair with bad smelling hair spray.

It was sunny out; Aunt Kim said that was supposed to mean good luck for a wedding. I was so excited, I was in my mom's wedding and I was the flower girl, which I think is the best thing ever. Chloe said being a flower girl is a baby thing, but I don't care! Secondly, it was the first day I had been let free since my adventure to Eli's.

Mom had been crying when I got home, she said that I could have been kidnapped or attacked by some wild animal. Phil was going on and on about how lucky I was that there weren't any vampires nearby because no one would have ever seen me again. Grownups always had to think something bad was going to happen! Mom and Phil kept me locked up in the house with no hope of escaping. They said they had to 'teach me a lesson' so I wouldn't sneak out of the house and into the woods anymore. I told them I wouldn't do it again, but I would, only for emergencies though.

Mommy was upstairs putting on her dress. Her dress was so much prettier than Chloe's and mine, but that's because she's the bride. Her dress was long and white with grey designs on it. Only Chloe, Claire, and I had seen the wedding dress. Phil wasn't allowed to see the dress, he tried really hard to get Chloe and I to show it to him, but we didn't.

"Will you put that in my hair?" I said and pointed to the grey flower clip on the table. Letty nodded and started taking the curlers out of my hair one by one. She pulled some of my hair up with the flower clip with super speed.

"You're done," she said and held up a mirror so I could see what my hair looked like. I smiled and jumped off the chair to go show mom while Letty started on Chloe's hair.

I walked into Mom and Phil's room and sat down on the huge bed. My mom was standing in front of the long mirror with her wedding dress on.

"Mom, where is Phil?" I asked as I played with the bottom of my fluffy dress.

"With Solace, its bad luck for the bride and groom to see each other before the wedding," she explained. Wedding were so confusing!

I only met Solace once and that was before the battle. He's Phil best friend, they had been for a long time. One time Chloe and I were going through Phil's stuff and we found this picture of Solace and Phil from when they were little kids. We tried to tape it on the fridge but Phil took it down because he looked ugly, well, that's what Chloe thinks anyways. Solace use to be kind of funny looking too, but he wasn't anymore. He was cuter than Mark and Taylor combined, so that meant he was really cute. He was married to Taylor's pretty sister, Amber.

"Is his leg okay now, Mommy?" I asked. A stupid, ugly vampire had broken his leg during the battle Devlin died in. I don't like vampires, I never seen one, but I heard they were mean and scary, so that was enough for me to put them on the stupid list. Phil promised that I'd never have to be afraid of vampires, but that still didn't change my thoughts.

"He's getting better," my mom said while putting in a pair of diamond earrings.

My mom liked Solace; she said he was a good person. Not everyone in La Push liked Solace like we did, Eli's Uncle David sure didn't.

"What about Amber? She's coming too, right?" I asked excitedly. I really liked Amber; she was so much like Aunt Kim. I wanted to meet her new baby too, I loved babies.

"I don't think so baby, her and Solace aren't together anymore," my mom said as she sat down on her and Phil's huge bed.

I didn't understand, how could they not be together anymore? They had been happy when I met then, why did that change? Would Mom and Phil be like that, together one day and not the next?

I didn't remember my Dad. I was just a little baby when we moved here. I'm glad I didn't know him because if I did, I'd probably miss him, I know Chloe does sometimes. I would remember Phil if he and mommy broke up and I didn't want to miss any more people.

"That won't happen to you and Phil, right?" I asked. Even though Phil and his super werewolf hearing made everything harder, I liked him around.

"I don't think he's going anywhere," my mom said with a smile.

Chloe pushed open the bedroom door, "Mom! Nona is here," she yelled through the crack in the door. I didn't see my Nona a lot. She lived in Louisiana where my mom was born. She hadn't even met Phil yet. I tried to remember what her face looked like as I ran down the stairs with Chloe to see her. She looked like mommy, she had the same forehead and lips, but she was older, darker and maybe just a little more serious looking.

"Hi Nona," I said as I reached the bottom stairs.

"Miss Ava Lin, come give me a hug!" She yelled, her face turning bright and happy.

I ran over to her and tried to wrap my arms around. "When are you going to come and stay in Louisiana with me?" Nona asked and I shrugged. I didn't know where Louisiana was, I only seen it on a map in school. It was too far from home though.

"Good luck with her, she's a handful," my Mom said as she walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. Nona gasped and Leticia smiled.

"Your dress is beautiful," Letty said before walking out the back door.

"Thanks Sugar," Nona said running her hands down the light blue dress she was wearing before turning back to me. "You Miss Ava? A handful? I doubt it," she said and kissed my cheek.

"She sneaks out to see boys!" Chloe yelled and burst into laughter after.

"I do not!" I said, stomping my foot and crossing my arms over my chest. I didn't know why everyone had to make sure a big deal about it, it was only one time!

"You did so sneak out to see Eli!" Chloe insisted.

"Who's Eli?" Nona asked and I smiled, I knew they would like each other when they met.

"My best friend," I said proudly, "He's deaf— I can teach you sign language."

'Hi, I'm Ava,' I signed.

"Oh well look at you," Nona gushed.

"That means, Hi, I'm Ava!" I explained. I wanted everyone to know sign language; it was only fair for Eli and Levi that everyone should know.

Nona laughed, "You can teach me more at the reception."

My mom looked up at the circular clock that was above the kitchen sink where we were standing, tapping her feet for a bit till the minute hand changed.

"Alright, well let's get this show on the road!"

We followed her out making out way outside to the tent, even though this was much prettier than any tent I'd ever seen. A lady named Madame Ellis who reminded me of walrus set everything up and by the look on my mom's face; she had done a good job. Mom wasn't getting married in a church; she was getting married in our big backyard and I was glad because churches were kind of boring.

"I want to walk with Eli," I said as I watched Chloe and Solace walk into the tent side by side.

"Sorry, you'll get to see him after the ceremony," Mom promised and playing with her small bouquet.

"Is Eli your boyfriend?" Grandpa asked with a chuckle from next to Mom. Why did everyone have to think that?

"More like future husband," Mom said and I glared.

"That's not true, don't say stuff like that!" I shouted which caused Grandpa to laugh louder. People couldn't say that stuff. If Eli found out they said it, he'd be embarrassed and not want to be my best friend anymore. Chloe said I was missing out not having a best friend that was a girl because we could talk about anything but I didn't want anyone else besides Eli.

"I was just kidding Ava, you can start walking now," Mom whispered and I looked at her with wide eyes.

"What if I trip?" I asked

"You're a ballet dancer, I don't think you're going to trip," Mom said and gently pushed me towards the opening of the tent.

I walked in and looked around; there were so many people here! I grabbed the white rose petals in the basket Claire made me and threw them on the ground with every step. As I got closer to where Phil, Solace, and Chloe were standing I saw the Uley-Varn family. I waved at Eli and he happily waved back while Jordan smiled at me. I stood on the side next to Chloe like Mom had told me to do.

'You look pretty,' Eli signed to me from behind Taylor's big shoulders. I smiled wide, so wide my cheeks hurt.

"Did I do okay?" I whispered up to Phil, he smiled and nodded.

"You did perfect, Ava," he said just as music started.

Phil's mouth dropped when he caught sight of Mommy, leaving his mouth looking like a big 'o'. She looked so pretty, I hope I looked like that on my wedding day. Phil smiled widely as she got closer to where we were standing.

I wasn't really listening; I heard a few words like 'forever' and 'love'. I hoped they would be together forever because I really liked our new family with Phil and the new baby coming.

"You may kiss the bride," the priest finally said and Phil leaned in to kiss Mom while everyone clapped and cheered. I shot off to look for Eli as soon as I could. It had been boring being grounded and I had missed him. He found me first, tapping my shoulder gently from behind to get my attention.

'You're free' he signed with a grin.

I nodded happily, taking his hand and running out of the tent and into the backyard. Everyone was still inside the tent congratulating Mom and Phil on the wedding. He followed me over to the swing set, my favorite thing about the backyard, before sitting down on the swing next to me.

'I missed you' I signed as I played with the bottom of my puffy dress. I really wished that I could put on something else besides the dress because whatever made the dress puffy also made it uncomfortable.

'Me too. Don't run away anymore' he signed with a look on his face that reminded me of how Phil looks at Chloe like when he's trying to punish her. My mom said Eli was the most responsible little man she had ever met; he never wanted anything to do with me and my sister's wild plans.

I laughed and pushed myself higher on the swing. I looked over at the big tent and noticed Solace walking out. He didn't look like the Solace that was here before. He looked sad, the saddest I'd ever seen someone look. He reminded me of Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh, a big grey cloud hanging over his head.

"Hi Solace," I yelled and waved. Eli stared at me nervously, probably expecting me to fall off the swing as I held on with only one hand.

Solace turned his head in my direction and I jumped off the swing. I heard Eli's foot steps behind me as I made my way over to Solace. He was still limping from his injury which made me sad; would he ever be better again?

"Hi Ava," he said and picked me up, I squealed as he hugged me tighter to him.

"Did you like the wedding?" I said loudly so Eli could hear if he was listening from below us.

He smiled but still looked sad, "Of course," he replied. I didn't think he was lying because Phil and Solace were the best of friends just like Eli and me; he had to be happy for Phil. If Eli was getting married, even if I was sad, I'd be happy just for him. That's just how best friends were.

I realized that Solace not only was not with Amber, but the baby he was suppose to have with her wasn't here either. The baby had to have been born by now, why wasn't he or she here? Solace was nice and nice people would want to be good daddies. I was going to ask him where the baby was but he already looked so sad, so I didn't.

I didn't understand why things were the way they were. I asked a lot but the only answer I ever got back was 'you're too young, Ava. You'll understand when you are older'. How could people be so happy and then not? My mom and Phil loved each other and so did Solace and Amber, how could that just change? Why did some people like my Dad, Nicholas not want anything to do with to do with me and Chloe, but Harley and Maddie's Dad was around every day. Life was just confusing.

"You can play with us if you want," I said and he placed me back on the grass. Grown up didn't really like to hang out with little kids, I knew that, but he looked so lonely and bored, I wanted to at least try.

"Thanks, I'm gonna go find your Mom and Phil though," Solace said and placed me back down on the grass.

I nodded and watched him limp away back towards the noisy tent.

'Why does he walk like that?" Eli asked as soon as Solace was out of sight.

'He got hurt,' I signed and Eli nodded while pushing up his big glasses with his thumb. I don't understand how he can see out of those things. Eli had let me wear them one time and they made everything so blurry. Sometimes when my mom would bring us to the park other kids would make fun of him for his glasses, but they're just a part of him, the world is too mean.

Speaking of meanness, I noticed Chloe walking out of the tent and towards us. I hoped that she was in a better mood than she had been earlier. She made her way over to us with Harley close behind her. Harley was wearing a black and red dress with a pair of clear sandals. She looked pretty but then again, all my friends are pretty, even Eli with his big blurry glasses!

"Mom wants you for pictures," Chloe said with a smile, she must have been in a better mood.

'Come on, 'I signed to Eli. He jumped off the swing and followed us back into the tent. There were more people here now, some that I didn't even know. Mommy had said that some of her friends from Miami were coming, but I didn't think she knew this many ballerinas. I found Mom and Phil talking to Nona near one of the tables.

"Is this Eli?" Nona asked with a big smile as she looked down at him.

"Yeah, my future son in law," Phil said and I glared at him. He put his hands up, it was his way of saying sorry when he made any of us mad.

"You lie!" I said and stomped my foot, Eli laughed watching me closely.

My mom dragged me off to take pictures with the family. It took forever to get to the photographer because Mom and Phil kept stopping to talk to people. Everyone seemed so happy for them; it was nice for everyone to be happy for one day. After I took pictures with my Mom, Nona, Papa, Chloe and Phil, I went off to find Eli again.

He was sitting at a table with Mark, Jordan, Michael, Levi and Anna. Their table didn't look right without Devlin just like my family wouldn't look right without Chloe. I climbed onto Uncle Mark's lap because there weren't any more chairs left at their table. Eli handed me one of Uncle Jared's peanut butter cookies, my favorite, from his plate.

'Can we always be best friends?' I signed and put my pinky out so we could promise on it. I didn't want to not be friends with him one day like Amber and Solace or Nona and Papa.

'Always' he signed and wrapped his pinky around mine.

That was a pinky promise we'd always have to keep.


	5. This was just the beginning

**Thank you everyone for the amazing reviews!**

******Disclaimer: Any of the characters you recognize from the Twilight series belong to Stephanie Meyer. Any other characters belong to the talented author, yay4shanghai. Her stories are my favorites and you can find her in my favorite authors list on my profile. There are also five other amazing authors doing spin off in yay4shanghai universe; liljenrocks, ari11990, AsagariMelody, Guzhong, twihardcaligurl, dll10, and Twilightheart21 !**

**Ava's POV**

_Friendships are fragile things and require as much care _

_and handling as any other fragile and precious thing_. - **Randolph S. Bourne**

"You know, it wouldn't kill you to go out and have some fun," Chloe said standing in the doorway of my bedroom literally glittering. She had on a sparkly silver dress that was way closer to the length of a shirt. Her light eyes seemed to pop out of her head with dramatic matching glittery eye shadow, a gift given to her by Annabelle for her recent 17th birthday.

I folded the corner of the page in the book I'd been reading and placed it on the bed beside me. I silently wondered how my mother could be so naïve not to know that Chloe and Harley were up to no good when they left the house with so much preparation. An outsider would probably think they were getting ready for their own weddings with as much time they took getting ready for their nights out.

"I have fun," I defended and Chloe scoffed loudly. Our definitions of fun were different, opposite actually. While Chloe found fun in her late night adventures with Lee, I was completely content with staying home with my Hope and Harrison or babysitting the precious little Hazel with Eli. It would be a lie to say that I had never envied the life Chloe lead. When Harley and Chloe came into my house laughing hysterically about the series of events that happened the night before, it was hard not to wonder what they did that was so much fun. The more I thought about it though; I realized that my way of life was already perfect for me.

"Sure you do," she said as she walked over to my bed, her heels silenced by the fluffy pink carpet. It was no wonder that at barely seventeen Chloe was already on her way to becoming a top model of her generation. Every move she made had the grace of a model and Chloe had the ability to make walking across a room like something that belonged on a runway.

"Are you coming home tonight?" I asked hopefully. I hated the nights she didn't come home, I was always overly worried. My sister was neither weak nor stupid, but the world could be such an ugly place, I hated not knowing where she was at night and who she was with. Devlin's, whose face was slightly blurred in my memory now, death at such a young age had left me slightly paranoid when it came to my friends and family.

"Possibly," Chloe said which in her language almost always meant no. I made a mental note to myself to make sure that I slept with my cell phone next to me and on loud.

"So, that's a no?" I asked with a raised eyebrow and she smiled, jumping off my bed.

"I don't know yet, I'll call," she said while standing in the doorway. She wouldn't call, she always forgot to.

"Be careful, I love you!" I shouted as she disappeared down the hall, her heels clacking with each step she took.

"Love you more," she replied and I listened to each slow step she took down the stairs before the front door slammed shut. I grabbed my small purple cell phone and ventured out of my room and down the stairs.

I heard Harrison's loud laugh when I reached the bottom step and instantly smiled. I might be biased, but I personally believe that my baby brother and sister are the cutest children in the world. Harrison, now 4 years old, was a very happy and hyper child. He was a miniature Phil, everything from his clear green eyes and tan, to his little attitude that was so much like Phil's.

"Ava! Ava! Look at this," Harrison shouted as he ran off the couch and over to me. He grabbed my hand and dragged me over to the T.V. where he was playing some video game Uncle Solace had given him last week. Both he and Phil were obsessed with it; the saying 'like father like son' had never been so true.

"Did you win?" I asked him even though the black screen and flashing word 'dead' in red letters clearly displayed he hadn't. Sometimes in his sweet innocent mind, he never lost, so I found it best to always just go along with that.

"Not yet," he said smiling at me. He was missing a front tooth, giving him a lisp when he talked that was just so adorable I wanted to squeeze him.

He sat back down on the floor in front of the T.V. and restarted his game. I watched with a smile as he forcefully pushed the buttons on the controller.

"Where's dad?" Harrison asked and I shrugged, just realizing Hope and Phil weren't here. I knew that since it was Friday Mom was teaching her later ballet class, but the whereabouts of Hope and Phil were unknown to me.

Even though I'd never admit it to anyone, not even Eli, sometimes I felt unworthy calling Phil Dad. The rational side of me knew he was my real father, no blood work or DNA could not deny that to him. Phil had been there for me since I was tiny and loved Chloe and I as if he had fathered us himself, but that didn't stop the eerie thoughts that infrequently popped into my head. He had given us his name, something he truly did not have to do, and loved me with the intensity and equality of my little brother and sister. He was without a doubt a much better person than "our sperm donor named Nicolas" as Chloe liked to refer to our biological father. It was an irrational way to think and I had no reasoning behind it all, which was why I never brought it up, but I still felt it.

I wondered about Nicolas sometimes, but I never let my thoughts linger on him for too long because I was truly too blessed to complain about his absence. I didn't miss him; I couldn't miss what I'd never had. I thanked him in the same odd way I thanked Eli's parents for putting him up for adoption because without that, I wouldn't have the life I've come to love today.

"I don't know buddy, when did he leave?" I asked as I heard the automatic garage door open. Phil and Hope came in carrying two pizzas; it was no secret in this house that Phil was not the most talented cook.

"Dad! I died again," Harrison said as the screen returned to black. He left the controller on the floor and ran to the kitchen.

"You'll get better," Phil promised him as I walked into the kitchen and sat down next to Harrison.

I swirled a piece of my light hair, which was a genetic mystery, between my fingers. It hit me then as my eyes roamed over the time on the oven that it was really odd Eli hadn't texted me yet. Eli's school in Port Angeles let out later than the tribal school, but usually at exactly 4 o'clock my phone had an incoming text from him, especially on a Friday. We didn't make plans to hang out; it was just an automatic thing, the only exception being if I worked that day.

I didn't need to work; Phil was still comfortable wealthy from selling a hardware store he had owned decades ago, but in a weird way I liked working, it gave me a sense of independence. Annabelle had hired me as a waitress for her catering company over the summer. The job wasn't too bad, we mostly did weddings and business parties, so the crowds were for the most part kind and appreciative. I liked to work with people who were in a happy situation, it was nice to see.

I was the youngest out of the crew, just 15, but Annabelle only had the nicest people work for. I didn't feel uncomfortable working with people up to five years older than me; I could honestly say I liked everyone I worked with, I'd even made friends with two of them, Josh and Kara.

Kara was the closet to my age at 16; she was a pretty and sweet local from Forks. She reminded me of what I pictured Hazel to be like when she got older. Everything from her long red hair and happy go lucky personality screamed Hazel. Kara never left a dull moment at work; she kept me laughing through the most boring of situations. She told me stories about her eccentric hippie mother and I taught her how to say the most ridiculous things in sign language. She was a good friend to have; she was my 'essential' girl friend as Chloe said.

My second friendship I formed at work was with Josh. He was seventeen and just moved to Forks from Seattle as the result of his parent's getting divorced. Annabelle hired both of us around the same time so we bonded being together as the new people. He reminded me of the blurry memories I had of my Uncle Solace when I was a child, in such obvious need of a friend. Anyone that took the time to talk to him could see the overwhelming sadness right through his Caribbean blue eyes. I couldn't figure out the reason for his underlying sadness, I assumed it was his parent's separation, but I wasn't sure. We weren't close enough for me to feel comfortable to ask him what was wrong. We talked while working and exchanged a few text messages every once in awhile, but we weren't necessarily close friends.

It was almost six and I had no wedding or party to cater but Eli still hadn't texted me. It was not like him at all to go this late into the day without talking to him, especially on a Friday. I feared for a second that he was hurt or something was seriously wrong, but living in such a tight knit community, something as simple as a sprained ankle did not go unknown to anyone in our large extended family.

I flipped open my cell phone and quickly typed in 'What r u doing?' before clicking the send button.

I looked up from my phone to see that Harrison had somehow maneuvered to get most of the cheese and pizza sauce on his cute little face. I laughed, grabbing a napkin and pouring some of my water from my bottle onto it.

"You're suppose to eat the pizza, buddy, not get all over your face!" I teased and he giggled as I cleaned off his face quickly and gently.

"Oh well," Harrison said with an adorable grin and reached to the center of the table to grab another slice of pizza.

I looked down at my phone and sighed when the screen was blank with no new text messages. What could he be doing? He would occasionally do something with Levi or the boys from his school in Port Angeles, but I was always invited and I hadn't talked to him once today.

"Where'd your sister go?" Phil asked and I shrugged while looking down.

"Somewhere with Lee," I replied so that I wasn't lying or revealing too much information that would get her in trouble.

My phone vibrated and I opened it with lighting fast speed but frowned upon what the message read.

'Still in Port Angeles. I'll text u when I get home.'

My eyes widened and I had to reread the message twice to make sure I was reading it correctly. To an outsider, there would be nothing wrong with that message, but to me, there was nothing right about it. Eli and I had a simple routine to our friendship, we did everything together. He had friends from his school in Port Angeles like I had friends from my own school, but we both always invited each other into our plans. To be honest, I didn't like doing anything without Eli. It might have seemed odd but Chloe was the same way, she'd rather sit at home too than go to a party without Harley.

He knew my mother's dance scheduled just as well as I knew the days his father taught at the university. I could have easily gotten a ride up to Port Angeles with my mom if I would have been invited into his plans. His friends always seemed to like me; my extensive knowledge of sign language was greatly appreciated by his school friends. Another thought entered my head and it was a reliving solution to the situation. He was probably at the university with Jordan. Jordan didn't teach a class on Friday this semester, but he would sometimes go in to grade compositions or tests.

'With who?' I texted back and left my phone open, impatiently waiting his response.

I tapped my nails on the oak kitchen table, they were an acrylic French manicure set, and something I always had thanks to Chloe. Every other Tuesday Chloe and me would go down to Forks and get our nails done at this little salon. It was our sister bonding day as we liked to call it. Chloe lead a busy life with a rising modeling career and equally busy social life that came along with it.

Chloe and Harley had plans, big ones and by this time next year they would be gone, making a new glamorous life in Los Angeles. We were still close though; no amount of modeling or partying could change that. Harley came along with us most of the time too and I never minded, I considered the Ateara's my family as well. Harley and Maddox were the first friends I made in La Push and although I was still close with Harley, I had drifted apart from Maddie.

"Daddy, can I get my nails done like Ava and Chloe?" Hope spoke up, looking at Phil with the biggest and saddest eyes. Hope had Phil wrapped around her finger but then again, we all did; Phil was the world's largest softy.

"No, you're too young," Phil said, which was his usual answer for just about everything. Phil wanted to believe Hope was still too young for everything; he never wanted his baby girl to grow up. He cringed at the idea of letting her invite boys to her birthday party, he was just that crazy. My Aunt Kim said that it is karma for his womanizing way, that he is the father of three beautiful girls that he has to protect from guys who were just like himself. He disagrees though; he said he never did anything bad enough to deserve the stress of protecting us from the "horrors" of men.

"I'm not a baby," she said and Phil sighed, not liking that answers at all. My phone vibrated and I jumped up, pressing the read button with lightening fast speed.

'Matt, Ben, Caylee' he texted back and I glared at the screen. I knew Matt and Ben; they were both a year younger than me and deaf, but nevertheless both very sweet. This Caylee girl was unknown to me, Eli had never mentioned her before and we talked about everything from our favorite colors to what fabric softener we liked. I paid close attention to what Eli said and I could recognize each one of his school friends by name but I was positive Caylee was never in any conversation we shared. I assumed she might be Matt or Ben's girlfriend. They were in the 8th grade, which was the usually time, the dating games begun.

I was in high school now and I had witnessed that time in my school, although I never had the desire to participate. I watched on the sidelines as people threw around 'I love you' with no meaning to it. I wasn't saying that ever young relationship was pointless, My Aunt Anna and Uncle Michael have been together since they were my age and their love remained true over the years. I admired their relationship; they were naturally in love while surrounded by supernaturally linked couples every day. I didn't have anything against imprinting. It had to do some good if it could make Phil, the anti anything to do with children spokesperson, the happy father of four kids. Falling in love naturally was just so much more appealing to me.

I felt abandoned, even though I truly wasn't being abandoned by anyone. Eli was allowed to go out and hang out with other people; I didn't hold any control over him, but he had never wanted to before. I felt left out, but feeling left out shouldn't have bothered me this bad.

"Ava, are you okay?" Phil's voice snapped me out of my daze. I nodded because there was no way I could have explained to him that Eli hanging out with other people hurt my feelings without sounding stupid.

I didn't text him back; I stood up and went to put my plate in the sink. I felt Harrison walk over to my side and hand me his plate, he couldn't reach the sink yet.

"Ava, will you paint my nails?" Hope yelled, turning around in her chair so that she was facing me. She had such a cute grin on her face I wouldn't have been able to say no, and I had nothing else to do anyway.

"Sure, come upstairs with me so you can pick out a color," I said and she scrambled out of her chair quickly and flew up the stairs with me behind her.

She sat down on my floor while I stood up on a chair to grab the basket with the nail polish off the shelf. Unlike Chloe and my mom, I was short, being 5'4 for awhile now. I joked with my mom sometimes; telling her there was no way Chloe and I could possibly share the same father with all our physical differences.

Even at the eight, Hope was surely becoming more and more pretty every day. She looked so much like my mom but then had features, like her bright green eyes that were so much like Phil's. She handed me a bottle with a lavender shade paint and I hit it roughly against my palm. I took her left hand, painting the nail of her small thumb.

"Where's Eli?" Hope asked, effectively bringing up the topic I was trying to forget. Hope liked Eli; she was just starting to learn the basics of sign language so she could better communicate with him. My mom wanted our whole family to at least have some knowledge of sign language; something I thought was a great idea. So many people missed out on how loving and kind Levi and Eli were because they wouldn't take the time to learn how to communicate with them.

"Out with his friends," I said as dismissively as possible.

"Without you?"

"Yeah…" The look on my face must have triggered something because she didn't bring it up again.

*~*

After painting Hope's finger and toe nails a matching purple color, I went back downstairs and laid down on the couch, wrapping my whole body in a blue fleece blanket before turning on the TV. I flipped through the channels and nothing seemed to interesting enough to keep on. It was 7:30 now and I still hadn't talked to Eli. I closed my eyes, enjoying the rare peaceful quiet of the house, but the vibration from my cell made my eyes reopen.

'I'm home. Can you come over?' the texted from Eli read. I smiled, I had been overeacting early, and I wasn't being abandoned by him.

I stood up off the couch and went to ask Phil. I found him sitting at the kitchen table talking on the phone to someone. At first, I couldn't hear who was on the other line, but after a few minutes I realized it was my Uncle Solace. My Uncle Solace and Phil were best friends, they had been for decades, and their friendship stayed strong. I didn't want to interrupt his conversation so I waited silently for him to hang the phone up. After about two minutes of me standing there he hung up and looked at me.

"Can you bring me to Eli's? If not, I can walk before it gets dark," I offered even though I knew he wouldn't let me. It had been years since my little adventure to Eli's house, but even at 14 (soon to be 15), the woods are still off limits. Vampires were a rarity around here now and I hoped the numbers continued to decrease because I never wanted to see Harrison or Hope become a werewolf.

"I'll take you," he paused, "Go get Hope and Harrison ready," he finished and I walked into the living room to get Hope and Harrison. They were sitting in the living room watching TV.

"Hey you two, get up, we're going to Uncle Mark's house," I said and they listened, standing up and running over to me. I went into the closet and grabbed both of their jackets and helped Harrison zip his up. Even though it was just the beginning of September, it was already starting to get cold at night. La Push had awful weather, which was why when I graduated; I was going to find myself some much needed time in the sun.

I got into the car and helped Harrison put his seat belt on. We pulled out of the drive way and in about five minutes; we were pulling into the long Uley-Varn driveway. There house was brightly lit up with both Mark and Jordan's car in the drive way.

"Call me if you need a ride home," Phil said as I hoped out of the car and ran up to the front door.

Mark opened up the front door before I even knocked, "Hello Ava," he said with little Hazel standing behind me.

"Hi Ava!" Hazel said while signing it at the same time. Hazel was six years old now and ridiculously adorable/tiny.

'Hi Hazel, how are you?' I signed and she smiled.

'Good, thank you' she signed. They both moved over so I could walk into the house. Eli was sitting on the couch, his eyes so concentrated on his phone that I wasn't even sure he noticed I had walked in.

I walked over to the couch and hit his shoulder gently; he looked up at me through his black rimmed-glasses. He had abandoned his coke bottle glasses years ago, now sporting a pair of black rectangular ones.

'Whats up' I signed and took a seat next to him on the couch. Hazel bounced over and sat in my lap and rested her head on my shoulder.

'Not much' he signed back before leaning over and kissing Hazel's forehead. She burst into a ringing laughter before Jordan called and she jumped off the couch and ran down one of the many hallways in the cabin.

'So, what did you do today?' I signed with a mix of curiosity and nosiness.

His phone vibrated against his hand and he looked away from me, texting someone back quickly, and then returning his attention back to me.

'Went out to eat' he signed and I sighed internally. His answers were so vague, we never talked like this.

'Is something wrong?' I asked, genuinely concerned about the reason he was acting so odd. I'd known Eli most of my life and I knew him almost as well as I knew myself.

'No. Be right back' he signed and got up, walking in the direction of the bathroom.

I stared at the T.V. but then my eyes caught something, his phone. His phone was sitting on the glass coffee table directly in front of me.

It was an invasion of his privacy to look through his phone, but maybe something in his text would explain his off mood. At first I reached for his phone slowly but then changed my mind and grabbed it quickly. I felt like a robber anxiously feeling like someone was going to catch me in the act. I went straight to his texts and his inbox was full of messages from the unknown Caylee. I didn't have time to go through each one, but from the ones I did look at, I evaluated this.

With the amount of flirtation in their texts, I was going to take a wild guess and say she wasn't Ben or Matt's girlfriend. They were hanging out tomorrow and I was going to take another guess and say I wasn't invited.

I placed his phone back on the table with a feeling of defeat and my feeling of being left out returned just as fast as it disappeared.


	6. Facing Reality

******Disclaimer: Any of the characters you recognize from the Twilight series belong to Stephanie Meyer. Any other characters belong to the talented author, ****yay4shanghai. Her stories are my favorites and you can find her in my favorite authors list on my profile. There are also five other amazing authors doing spin off in yay4shanghai universe; liljenrocks, ari11990, AsagariMelody, Guzhong, and twihardcaligurl, dll10, twilightheart21. **

**A/N: The last chapter I added a few changes to the ages and character personalities. I had some of the birthdays mixed up so if anyone was confused, the correct information is up in chapter five. Sorry for the wait! **

**Ava's POV**

"_There are things that we never want to let go of, people we never want to leave behind. But keep in mind that __letting__ go isn't the end of the world, it's the beginning of a new life._"

"Is something wrong?" Josh asked concerned, staring at me as if I'd gone insane.

"No, why would anything be wrong?" I asked while trying to place dinner plates as gently onto the tray as I could, but considering my mood, I was having trouble fighting the urge to slam each plate down.

I left Eli's last night feeling no better, if possibly worse, than I did when I arrived. He was distant the entire night, his mind somewhere else completely. His usual happy and talkative personality I had grown to love ceased to exist last night; it was as if I was with a stranger. We played with Hazel for awhile and then I helped Jordan cook dinner. Eli wasn't in most of the conversations between Jordan and me, his texting conversation with Caylee obviously held more interest to him. Every time his phone would vibrate, I was expecting him to invite me into his plans, but as if I half expected, he never did. I didn't know how to explain how I felt to myself or anyone else, the best I had come up with was, replaced.

"You're just not being yourself," Josh said with a skeptical look in his eyes. I was known around work, just as well as at home, for my outgoing and happy personality. Kara refers to me as 'smiley' because I'm always in such a good mood. Kara's wasn't working today but I'm sure if she was she'd be in just as much awe as Josh is at my off mood. I wasn't angry; I was just bothered, which was putting a strain on my normal carefree attitude.

"Oh, I don't know," I said not agreeing to what he was saying, even though I already knew that. I didn't want to talk about it; I just silently hoped that things would go back to normal as fast as they changed. When I thought about how I felt last night with Eli, I didn't feel stupid. I felt like I had good reason to feel bad, but when I tried to make the thoughts in my head spoken words, they didn't sound right. It would sound like that I didn't want Eli to have any other friends besides me, but that wasn't true. I would never want that for him, I just didn't want him to forget me in the process of meeting new people.

"Well, if you want to talk, let me know," Josh said sincerely before disappearing back into the kitchen.

I grabbed the circular tray that probably weighed close to half my body weight and walked into the beautiful decorated banquet hall that we were catering for a bridal shower. There were so many people it reminded me of a party that my family would have in La Push, there were tables of people everywhere. I passed out the entrees to the tables I was assigned to and tried to smile as warmly as possible at the guests, but it just felt so awkwardly forced.

I walked back into the kitchen and took my cell phone out of my back pocket. I flipped it open and it was just blank, no messages from Eli at all. I hadn't talked to him since last night when I texted him our traditional good night messages. Even though I was sure we weren't hanging out today due to my little phone searching investigation, a message as simple as 'hello' could make me feel drastically better. I fought the urge to scream as I put my phone back in my pocket.

I was starting to wonder if I did something wrong, something that could have upset him. I couldn't think of anything and I knew deep down that he wasn't mad at me, Eli and I never fought, not even as small children. Secondly, it was not easy to stay mad at me for long; something my whole extended family has told me. I just had to accept the fact that he wculd rather hang out with Caylee than me, something that hurt more than I wanted to admit. I sat down on one of the counters and stared at the screen of my phone, wishing that a text from Eli would magically pop up.

Josh walked back in and stopped dead in his tracks when he seen me sitting on the counter. He looked down at me as if something was seriously wrong. I fidgeted under his intense gaze and pushed a piece of my straight hair back behind me ear.

"What Josh?" I said laughing, the first real laugh of the day. He was staring at me as if I had two heads or I was doing something completely ridiculous, not just sitting on a counter.

"What's wrong with you, Ava? I've never seen you like this before," Josh said and sat down next to me on the counter.

I didn't know Josh extremely well, but he knew the basics of my life. He knew Eli was my best friend and that I worried excessively over Chloe, but he didn't know every little detail. I had an abnormally huge family; there would never be a time in my life where I wouldn't have someone to talk to if I needed them, but maybe it would be nice to talk to an outsider looking into the situation. In La Push, everyone was related in some way and it was close to impossible to get advice that wasn't biased.

Josh was older though, seventeen and a junior in high school to be exact. Would this all seem childish to him?

"It's really not a big deal," I said hoping to convince him and myself, but it felt like a big deal to me. Things were so obviously changing and I felt like there was nothing I could to do to stop it.

Change was an inevitable part of life; I knew this as well as the next person did. I didn't live in a fictional world where everything would stay in a perfect state everyday for the rest of my forever. I was optimistic about life, I worked out that there were more ups than downs, but downs were still downs. I knew I was overreacting in a way, anticipating for the worst which would be that this was the beginning of the end of my friendship with Eli. The frequently used and cliché saying 'you can't control your feelings' had never been so true.

"Well, it's big enough to make you upset," he said wisely and I sighed loudly. I was no master at hiding my feelings, that position had been gifted to Chloe. My Aunt Kim had once told me that my mother and I were pretty much see through when it came to how we were feeling. According to Kim, there was no point in even trying to conceal how I was feeling because it was as if every emotion was clearly written on my forehead for everyone to view. It usually was never a problem because I had little to be upset about, but on days like this, it was a curse. Kim was insightful like that and she had passed on the trait to Annabelle, who was thankfully in too much of an imprint bliss to notice I just wasn't myself today.

"I just," I paused, trying to settle on what word was best to use, "feel replaced."

"Replaced?" Josh asked with a look of skepticism in his crystal clear eyes that made me wish I just hadn't said anything at all.

"Yeah, just never mind," I said quickly before jumping off the counter, my feet hitting the ground with a soft thump. I turned to walk into the other part of the kitchen, but he stopped me, grabbing my wrist before I even made my second step in that direction.

"Why do you feel replaced?" he asked and I felt tongue paralysis develop.

"I don't know!" I yelled exasperated, "You know Eli? Well he's been hanging out with other people and I know it's stupid but I just feel so left out now," I confessed and even though I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders, I didn't feel all that much better.

"Ava, I know this probably not what you want to hear, but people change and drift apart and usually you can't do anything to stop it," Josh said and I winced at his pessimistic point of view, mostly because I knew he was not entirely wrong.

The thought of my friendship with Eli dying was painful. Eli and I had such a close bond every since we were children, we had just automatically clicked. He'd always been my best friend; I called him my best friend before I even knew what the term truly meant. How could I ever be comfortable with going from being best friends with him to just being familiar with him? It was a horrifying thought; I didn't want to know what it would be like to call someone else my best friend.

"I don't want it to be like this though," I said sadly. I wanted to stop this, freeze things back to a spot in a time where I didn't feel so incredibly insecure about where my friendship with Eli was heading.

Josh chuckled, "Life has some funny ways of working against you".

"Remind me not to come to you again when I needed cheered up," I said teasingly and Josh laughed again.

"Sorry Ava," he said sincerely with a smile that provoked the only true smile of my day so far.

The party ended at six, but with clean up, we weren't done until till closer to 7:30. I tried to steer clear of any thoughts that were Eli related, not wanting to spend anymore of my day upset. He was allowed to have other friends besides me and if he didn't want to invite me, I'd have to respect that. I was trying hard not to stress about but as I checked my phone when I was walking out of the banquet hall, I was more than a little disappointed when I had no unread messages.

I looked around for either my mom or dad's car but I didn't see it anywhere. It only took me a few seconds after that to notice one of my Uncle Solace's less elaborate cars parked on the side of the building. I loved Solace and I think I'm lucky to have him as a part of my family. He'd made some mistakes like everyone else, but he didn't have a cruel bone in his body.

"Hi Uncle Solace," I said as I got in the car, "Where is my mom and dad?" I asked, wondering why they would send Solace all the way to Port Angeles to pick me up.

"Your dad thinks Harrison is starting to get sick so your mom is trying to convince him not to call in Dr. Cullen," Solace said seriously and I burst into a ringing laugh; that was so very Phil like.

"Is he okay?" I asked even though from Solace's tone, Harrison didn't seem to be in a dire condition.

Solace nodded, "I think so, but you know how your dad gets," he said before wiping out of the parking lot, his driving was legendarily crazy.

Phil, and I say this in the kindest way possible, was a bit over protective. When any of us had anything as simple as a cold, he could honestly convince himself that it meant we were dying. He was paranoid, but I guess he did have good reasoning. Phil didn't have much of a family outside of ours and Solace. His parents had passed years before he'd met my mom and his older sister, my Aunt Stella, lived far away with her husband and the distance had put an obvious strain on their relationship. We were all he had which served as a legitimate excuse for his protective ways, but someone seriously needed to convince him that little Harrison would be just fine.

"Did you want to drive?" Solace me as we stopped at a red light. Solace had taught both me and Eli how to drive over the summer vacation. I loved driving, even though I almost always tended to speed. Eli on the other hand was a different story; I'd gifted him with the nickname 'Grandma Eli' for his slow as a turtle driving. Thinking about that made me take out my phone from the back pocket of my black dress pants and look for any new messages, but there was none.

"Sure," I answered as cheerfully as possible considering the disappointment flooding my body. Solace looked at me with a concerned look before pulling over into a parking lot so we could switch spots. I tried to add the natural bounce in my step, but I realized it was difficult to force.

"Are you going straight to Eli's?" Solace asked me before I even pulled completely out of the parking lot. I kept my eyes focused completely on the road so he wouldn't notice the tears that were starting to form in the back of my eyes.

"No, I haven't talked to him today," I said because I couldn't lie to save my life. I didn't need to be looking at Solace to know that he was staring at me with a shocked expression on his face.

"You haven't, why?" he questioned and I wished I could answer that.

"He's been hanging out with some people from school," I said almost wishing I would have just signed it so I could have detached all the bitter emotions from my voice.

"Without you?" Solace said unintentionally but effectively rubbing that fact in my face.

"Yes, he's allowed to hang out with new people," I said, but the answer didn't seem to please Solace enough.

"But you two are inseparable," he paused, "I'll say something to Jordan or Eli if you want," he offered but I shook my head.

"It's really okay," I said even though, it really wasn't okay.

Little Harrison was wrapped up in about four blankets that were much bigger than him on our couch when I walked through the door with Solace. He looked so adorable all snuggled up, watching one of his many favorite cartoons, but when I started to walk over to him, he stopped me.

"You can't come over her sissy, I'm sick!" he shouted as seriously as his high little voice would let him before ducking his head under the blanket so I wouldn't come near him. Me and my mom, who was sitting on the love seat reading laughed in sync.

"Phil still wanting to call in the reinforcements from Italy?" Solace asked and my mom laughed softly while shaking her head.

"No, he's calmed down now," my mom said with a relieved smile as she placed the book she was reading down besides her, "Hope made plans to go over Hazel's, I was thinking since I was sure you were headed over there too, Ava, that maybe you could bring them Sol?" my mom asked and I looked down quickly. I was considering taping a sign on my shirt that said 'Don't ask me about Eli today!' but that would just be kind of weird.

"I'll bring her, you don't have to ask," Solace said and on cue, I heard Hope's footsteps loudly coming from the hallway and down the stairs.

"Uncle Solace!" she shrieked as if she hadn't seen him in months but in reality, he'd been over earlier this week. She threw herself into his arms and he caught her expertly, probably used to this reaction from the female kind, which made me shudder.

"Well, hello Hope," he said with a chuckle and kissed her forehead before placing gently down on the ground.

"Are you bringing me to Hazel's?" she asked, her purple velvety overnight bag hung on her shoulder.

"Yes, are you ready?" I responded for Solace. Hope nodded then jumped over to mom and kissed her cheek loudly before walking back over to us.

"Bye Daddy, love you!" she yelled looking up at the balcony and only when he replied, she started to follow us outside to Solace's car. Hope got in the backseat while I took the passenger seat, I wasn't a fan of driving with children, it just made me too nervous. Solace got in the car a few minutes later and we took off on the familiar road to the Uley-Varn cabin. I'd been to the cabin so many times, I was positive I could get there with my eyes closed. It wasn't until we pulled into the isolated driveway that I remembered that only Hope was going inside, not me.

"Will you bring me to the door?" Hope asked, throwing terrified glances around her. The dark wooded area that surrounded the driveway had always scared her, but since last week when Phil told Hope and Harrison the truth about the Quileute legends, she's been a little jumpy. I nodded and got out of the car. Hope grabbed my hand as soon as her feet touched the ground and dragged me to the front door as fast as her little legs would take her. I rang the doorbell, even though Mark had deemed it unnecessary many times. I heard an excited squeal from inside, which I immediately recognized as Hazel's, and before I knew it, the door swung open.

"Hi Hope, hi Ava!" Hazel yelled, which must have attracted Jordan's attention because he appeared in the doorway a few seconds later. He picked Hazel and cuddled her tiny body to his.

"Aren't you coming in?" he asked as Hope pushed her way into the house. I shook my head no but it just felt so weird.

"Harrison's sick and Solace is in the car so I'm going to get going," I said and Jordan gave me the same skeptical look I'd been receiving all day.

"Alright, tell him we hope he feels better, good night, Ava," he said before shutting the door, I could still hear the loud happy carefree laughs of Hazel and Hope as I walked off the porch and down the driveway. I got back into the car and piece of purple fabric caught my eye, Hope's overnight bag.

"Let me bring this in for her," I said and Solace simply nodded. I reached into the backseat, grabbed the bag and ran up the driveway and back onto the porch. I balled my fist up to knock on the door but before my first hit the door, Eli opened it and I froze.

He looked the same, which might have sounded obvious, but something in me thought that since he was acting like a different person, that he'd looked like a different person. I was wrong and not surprised to see the same Eli I've always known standing in front of me.

'Can you give this to Hope?' I signed quickly, shoving the bag in his arms.

'Yeah, do you want to come in and meet Caylee?' he signed and my heart jumped with excitement until he spelled out Caylee at the end of the sentence. Of course she was here and I was going to be stuck at home alone and bored and the worst part, he didn't even seem to think that was messed up at all.

'Sure' I signed back because I didn't want to seem rude, even though I was irrational blaming our falling apart relationship on this Caylee girl. I walked into cabin and she was sitting on the couch, she waved happily with a big smile and I knew I could no longer make her out to be the villain like I had been.

If Chloe were here, she would have picked at every feature Caylee had but I wasn't Chloe and I declared that she was pretty. She had her hair styled in a short bob with many colors of light blonde highlights through it. She had big blue eyes that she covered with a pair of black rhinestone filled glasses and a minimal amount of light eye shadow and mascara.

'You must be Ava; it's so nice to meet you. Eli always talks about you' she signed fast and fluidly, she must have been deaf too.

'It's nice to meet you too' I signed, a feeling of relief settling over me that he hadn't completely forgotten about my existence over the last few days.

'Eli and I are going out to eat again tomorrow and I told him he should invite you' she signed with a smile and although the invitation was sweet on her behalf, the word invite was not a part of the vocabulary in me and Eli's friendship and I wasn't ready to add the word to the dictionary.

'That sounds great, just get my number off him' I signed while thanking God I wasn't speaking right now because I don't think I would have been able to keep my voice from cracking. It was over, the friendship I had once known, truly was over and I wasn't overreacting anymore.

'I have to go, my ride is waiting, and it was nice meeting you Caylee' I signed before running out the door without even looking at Eli.

I barely made in it my room when I got home before a torrent of tears streamed down my face. My mom and Phil were busy worrying about Harrison; Chloe was out with Harley, Eli was with Caylee, and for the first time in my entire life, I felt so alone. I gripped my pillow as another sob ripped through my chest because just like always, things were changing and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

*~*

**September 29th 2045 **

"Please Ava; you have to do this for me!" Kara begged as if me saying no to her question was going to be life altering.

"Kara, why do you want me to come so bad?" I asked with a laugh as I walked over to the sink and placed a tray of dirty dishes down next to the sink.

It has been almost two weeks since I met Caylee and I've been trying to put all my bitter and angry feeling towards the situation aside, which was a lot easier, said than done. If Eli was happy then I wanted to be happy for him, but I was beginning to lose my own happiness pretending that this was all okay. The worst part about it all was that Eli hadn't even noticed the change in me because that's how little we were hanging out now. Our friendship was quickly becoming unrecognizable to what it had once been, what I had thought it would always be.

"I don't want to deal with all the guys myself," she paused, "and you never come anywhere with us!" she exclaimed, moving her arms wildly to better prove her point.

She wanted me to go out with her and some of the guys from work tonight and even though the idea sounded fun, it also felt weird. I'd never gone anywhere without Eli and I felt like I'd be being a hypocrite by going out without him, but I knew deep down that that wasn't true. I was sure Eli had plans with Caylee, Ben, and Matt, they had started their own little group that I hadn't been privileged enough to be a part of. I tried to act like I didn't care when I'd stop at the Uley-Varn cabin and Mark would tell me he'd gone somewhere with the three, but it felt like someone was putting cement blocks in my heart, causing it to drop into my stomach.

"Where are you going?" I asked and Kara squealed, knowing I was close to giving in.

"Were going out to eat and then going to watch some new scary movie that Bryan wanted to see," she paused, "and you can just spend the night at my house so your mom doesn't have to drive all the way out to Port Angles later to get you," she finished quickly, not leaving any room for excuses.

"I'll come," I agreed finally and she screamed before hugging me tightly, I laughed internally; at least someone wanted to hang out with me.

"Kara, why are you screaming?" Josh asked as he walked into the kitchen with more dishes for Kara and I to wash.

"Ava's going to come with us tonight!" she said excitedly, starting on the large pile of dishes that had accumulated while we were talking.

"You are?" Josh asked, directing his attention towards me and I nodded, "Good," he said and something in the way he said it made me blush.

"I seen that," Kara whispered with a giggle as soon as he left the kitchen.

"You didn't see anything," I said and we both laughed loudly. It was the first time in weeks that I felt actually felt like myself.

The cleaning up seemed to go by a lot faster than usual because before I knew it, I was heading out to Kara's car with her. We were going to her house first to change and then meeting up with Josh and Bryan at some diner in Port Angeles that I'd never heard of. Although I hadlived in Port Angeles at one point, I was absolutely clueless about the city. It didn't really matter where we were going to eat; I was just excited for tonight. I really needed to do something to take Eli off my mind and sitting alone in the house the last two weeks had done me no good at all.

Kara's house was a little cottage that reminded me of Emily's, only it was blue instead of yellow. It had a large front porch and there was a big swing hung in the right corner. I could already tell the house would be cozy and we hadn't even pulled all the way into the driveway yet.

"My mom's not home, you'll get to meet her later though," Kara said as she got out of the car and I followed her inside. I walked behind her to her bedroom, which was painted a dark purple with fluffy white carpet. It was small but neat and comfortable.

"You need clothes," she said as she ran over to her closet, which was overfilled with shoes and clothes. I hadn't brought any clothes with me because I assumed I was just going straight home after work. The uniform for work wasn't anything bad, just black dress pants and a baggy t-shirt, but I'd much prefer to wear something else. She threw me a thin fitted hot pink top and a jean skirt with a few rips near the bottom.

"Good? Good," she said quickly without giving me a chance to respond before picking out her own outfit. She pointed out the bathroom and I walked in, stripping out of my work shirt and dress pants quickly. I was fourteen, soon to be fifteen, and my body had developed quickly, just not in the way I wanted. I had hoped to inherit my mom's long and lean body like Chloe had, but I hadn't been that lucky. The best way to describe my body was small. I had small hips and even smaller breasts, but my body wasn't everything, so it didn't really bother me. After I was dressed, I grabbed my clothes and walked back into Kara's room. She'd already changed into a green shirt with dark blue jeans and a golden belt around her waist.

"You look so cute, Josh is so going to want you!" she squealed as she took her long red hair out of the pony tail, letting it wave down her chest. I smiled, but then realized, why would I smile at that statement?

"I don't like Josh, not like that anyway," I told her truthfully, I didn't have a crush on Josh, we were just friends.

"Whatever you say," Kara sang out before spraying her hair with grape scented hairspray, "Ready?"

We walked into the diner laughing loudly as we spotted the booth Josh and Bryan were sitting. Kara slid into the seat next to Bryan and I sat down next to Josh.

"Late as usual," Bryan said teasingly as we sat down. I didn't know Bryan that well, he worked for Annabelle too and he seemed to be close with Kara.

"It's not my fault! I let Ava drive and she passed up the restaurant like three times," Kara said and we both started laughing again.

"So you're blaming Ava?"

"No," she paused, "Actually, yeah, blame Ava," she said jokingly.

We ordered our food and I evaluated a few things in the short fifteen minutes I'd been here. Kara and Bryan both liked each other, something so obvious by how close they were sitting together and the amount of times Kara would smile during their conversations. The second thing I noticed that it was nice to be out with people, not just sitting my room, over analyzing everything that was happening with Eli.

"How'd Kara convince you to come with us?" Josh asked and I shrugged.

"A lot of begging," I said teasingly with a smile and he returned the smile, flashing his perfect white teeth at me.

"Oh, shut up! You wanted to come," Kara said as she picked at my fries.

"I'm glad you came," Josh said and our eyes connected for a second before I looked down, the intense gaze in his eyes too much for me to handle. Yet again, another reaction I could not understand.

After we finished eating, we took off to the movie theater. Kara was driving this time so we wouldn't miss the whole movie as she said. I was actually having fun, something I didn't know I knew how to do without Eli, but as the night passed, I was increasingly more happy that I'd come. I hadn't even checked my phone to see if anyone had texted me and usually by this time of night, I'd already checked my phone at least ten times. When the screen was blank, nothing new from anyone, I was a little disappointed, but not as disappointed as I usually was by it.

We took the same seating arrangement when we got into the movie theater, Kara next to Bryan and me next to Josh. The movie was supposed to be about vampires, something I had thought they stopped making movies about years ago. I hated vampire movies because I couldn't reassure myself that vampires were just fiction when it was over. The movie had a fast pace, in the first fifteen minutes a extremely bloody scene filled the screen, causing Kara to scream so loudly that I was sure people in the theater next to us heard her.

"Kara, be quiet!" Bryan whispered while shaking his head, but I noticed the quick smile that appeared on his face when he looked away.

The movie wasn't long and it was over before I knew it, the credits were rolling on the screen. Kara looked traumatized as she stood up from the seat, shaking her head repeatedly.

"Me and Ava are picking out the movie next time!" she declared as we walked out of the movie theater.

It was late, 11:30, and the sun had been replaced with the clear dark sky. In La Push, the whole reservation was asleep by now, not one single store open past nine. In Port Angeles though, things were still remotely lively, lights coming from a few stores and street lights lighting up the sidewalks. I liked it here, no wonder Eli liked hanging out with his friends here.

Eli. It was almost midnight and I hadn't talked to him all day, I probably wouldn't talk to him at all tonight either.

I turned to hug Josh and he hugged me back, his muscular arms wrapped around my waist. He was so much bigger than me, standing almost a foot over me.

"Come with us to Seattle tomorrow," he said after he let me go from his grasp.

"Okay," I said simply and I didn't have to be facing Kara to know that she was beaming.

I fell asleep that night with a smile; I'd found a temporary fix to what I'd previously thought was a hopeless situation.


	7. If it's meant to be

**********Disclaimer: Any of the characters you recognize from the Twilight series belong to Stephanie Meyer. Any other characters belong to the talented author, ****yay4shanghai. Her stories are my favorites and you can find her in my favorite authors list on my profile. There are also five other amazing authors doing spin off in yay4shanghai universe; liljenrocks, ari11990, AsagariMelody, Guzhong, and twihardcaligurl, dll10, twilightheart21. **

**A/N: Thank you everyone so much for the reviews, sorry for the wait!**

**Ava's POV**

_"People come, people go – they'll drift in and out of your life, almost like characters in a favorite book. When you finally close the cover, the characters have told their story and you start up again with another book, complete with new characters and adventures. Then you find yourself focusing on the new ones, not the ones from the past." -_**Nicholas Sparks**

**October 10****th**** 2045**

_Are you coming today?_

The text was clear as day as the annoying beeping of its arrival woke me up from my much needed peaceful sleep. Last night had been a long and tiring, yet fun night. At work we'd worked a huge birthday party last night for an extremely spoiled sixteen year old from Port Angeles.

The party was extravagant, larger and appearing to have more preparation than my mother's own wedding. It was exciting to help host such a huge party, but my feet were hurting by the end of the night to say the least. With cleaning up, we weren't done until around 11:30 and after that, I'd gone out to eat with Kara and the guys, causing my arrival home to be around 12:30. My mom didn't mind much, she trusted me, though I was sure she wouldn't allow me to walk in the house at two or three in the morning, I knew she liked the fact I was getting out more.

It was impossible for anyone; expect maybe Eli, not to notice the amount of distance that had been placed between us. In the last month we'd drifted more than I thought we ever would, but I didn't have the heart to confront Eli about it. During the small time we did spend together, he seemed so happy; happier than I ever remembering him being, and if Caylee had this effect on him, what kind of best friend would I be to complain? Distanced or not, today was his birthday and although fourteen wasn't necessarily a mile stone in life, I would definitely be in attendance.

_Of course!_ I replied. I stretched before jumping out of bed and running over to my overly filled closet. There were dresses, jeans, skirts, tops, and shoes hanging out at all different directions. I searched for my newest dress that my Nona had recently sent me in the mail. It was a brown plaid tube dress with a dark belt twisted in the shape of a bow in the middle. I'd had it for months, waiting for a good day to wear it.

I stumbled out of my room and down the stairs into the kitchen where Chloe was sitting. Her hair was a mess of spiral curls settled onto the top of her head. She had miraculously stayed home last night, the first Friday night she's stayed home in month.

"Who dropped you off last night?" Chloe asked, dragging her eyes off the screen of her laptop to look at me.

"Josh and Kara," I replied while grabbing a coffee cup out of the cupboard. She'd made our favorite cinnamon coffee and I poured myself some before sitting down at the table with her.

"He's cute, do you like him?" she asked excitedly, her blue eyes sparkling like they always did when she was happy.

"No, we're just friends," I said, but truthfully, I was beginning to have these feeling in the pit of my stomach that I wasn't sure came just from the product of our friendship. Minuscule feelings that made me wish he'd grab my hand at times and unintentionally smile when he sat down next to me.

I wasn't experienced when it came to this stuff, so I didn't know what to make out of these feelings. I'd previously thought that the only reason I felt that way was because of all the couples I was around. Living in La Push with my family being a pack of wolves, literally, I see more love and affection everyday than some people see in their entire life. It was natural to want to be a part of that, right? Even if what I was feeling was the beginning of true feelings, a relationship between me and Josh was simply out of the question for many reasons.

Number one, our lifestyles would clash more than it would go together. I had work, ballet, and school, which all three were very time consuming. I had dance every Monday and Wednesday and then spent my other days studying or working. I had always made time for Eli and now that that spot was open, could I give that time to Josh? It would feel wrong though to hang out with someone else in the time that had always been reserved for Eli.

Josh was seventeen, a junior in high school while I was not yet fifteen and just a freshman. Age wasn't a huge deal and I was very mature for my age but there was just something so prominently different about someone my age and someone Chloe's.

"You're lying, but it's cool," Chloe said dismissively while forcefully pressing the keys on the keyboard.

"Who are you talking to?" I asked to change the subject. She slide the laptop so that the screen would be facing me. A tanned and green eyed male that reminded me somewhat of Freddie took over the screen. There was a small instant message conversation in the corner which explained who she was talking to.

"Ain't he cute? I did a photo shoot with him last week, his name is Sebastian," she said wiggling her eyebrows in a way that suggested that his name meant something much more.

"Sebastian is the crab from Ariel!" Hope yelled excitedly as she walked down the stairs with Harrison, who was still in his Scooby Doo pajamas. It was nearly 10:30 and I cringed at what my parents' could have possibly been doing all night that would leave them in bed this late.

"Sissy, I'm hungry," Harrison said rubbing his stomach dramatically and placing his big green pleadingly eyes on me.

I smiled before ruffling his hair gently, "What do you want to eat, Baby?"

"Chocolate chip pancakes, please," Harrison said with a big baby toothed smile.

With Chloe's help, we made a lot more of a mess than actually food.

By the time I'd placed two pancakes on Hope and Harrison's dishes, the kitchen was covered in flour and splattered batter. I had two hand prints of flour on my butt thanks to Harrison. It was eleven now and I was seriously beginning to wonder if my parents were alive. After a few minutes, I heard Phil's loud footsteps coming down the stairs. His hair was disheveled and he was wearing cut off sweat pants and a white tee shirt.

"Daddy, Ava and Chloe cooked, but there is none left for you," Harrison said quickly.

"I see that," Phil said as he looked between all four us, Chloe and I almost covered completely in flour. He shook his head and chuckled, picking up Harrison.

"Did you kill Mom?" Chloe asked with playful accusation in her eyes, but Harrison didn't hear the teasing in her words.

"Momma is dead!?" he shrieked and squirmed in Phil's arms before my mom strolled into the kitchen, "you're alive," he exclaimed happily as he reached over for my mom to grab him.

"Of course I'm alive," she said with a smile and then glanced at the clock, "Wow, it's late," she said more to herself than anyone else.

"We have to be at Eli's at three," I reminded her and she nodded.

"Oh good, I'm glad you still want to go," my mom said and her reply left me with an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. Was I expected not to go and just act like we didn't know each other anymore because he'd found someone better to spend _most _of his time with? I knew that that wasn't what she meant, but anything said about me and Eli's drifting made me feel insecure.

Maybe that's what Jordan thought too, I'd know noticed he something different because he had scribbled something in his notebook the last time I was around.

It probably went something like this: _My sweet niece/family friend, Ava is kind but so naïve. She doesn't understand that since Eli has found new people to hang out with, she should too. _

Okay, Jordan would never say that, I was just going crazy.

*~*

It wasn't necessarily a birthday party; Eli had stopped having those after his tenth birthday, it was just a few member of the family and a lot food plus birthday cake. I hadn't seen Eli since the beginning of this week and I was hoping that today would set some normalcy back into our friendship.

I grabbed Eli's present, which was a mess of red wrapping paper and tape. Hope had been determined to "help" me wrap his gift, which was a new book by one of his favorite authors and a blue and black stripped hoodie. Eli is easily the hardest person to shop for because of two reasons. Number one, he doesn't spend his days in front of the T.V. so movies and video games were eliminated for a gift option. Secondly, he never expresses any to desire to want anything more than what he already has.

The sky was overcast in gray, the sun appearing to be nonexistent for today. The light rain barely made any noise as it connected with the roof. This was the typical weather for La Push, but it was home. I wondered what the weather was like now in my birth state of Florida. Although the consentient warmth and sunshine of the south was appealing, Miami just could never feel home to me like La Push did. The people I'd been blessed to call family made up for the weather entirely.

"We're leaving now," Hope yelled from the bottom of the stairs

Chloe was sitting on my bed with her legs crossed, playing with her naturally wavy hair which was now grown past her chest as she stared at the wall. She'd been ready for at least twenty minutes because she had rushed to get ready so she could force me to let her do my makeup. It was her new thing and in the last month that she had became fascinated makeup she used any occasion to experiment, I was her latest victim.

I wasn't really a victim because even though I disliked the weight of makeup, it did look really pretty. My eyelids were dusted with a dark shimmery eye shadow that matched my dress with a thin straight line of liquid eye liner.

Chloe followed me down the stairs where Hope was impatiently tapping her foot.

"You take forever," she exclaimed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Sorry Hope," Chloe apologized with a soft laugh as the three of us went out to the car where my mom, Phil, and Harrison were waiting.

When we got to the Uley-Varn cabin, Quil and Claire's car was already parked in the driveway. I was sure Addison and Harley were here but I wondered if Maddie was. I'd seen her less and less over the years.

I picked up Harrison from his car seat and started to walk towards the door. I rang the door bell just as Chloe, Phil, Hope, and my Mom made it onto the small porch. Hazel opened the door, looking adorable as ever in a pair of dark glittery blue jeans and blue top with a heart made out of blue sequins in the middle. She smiled a big half missing tooth smiling before squealing in delight.

"I miss you Ava, why don't you come over anymore?" Hazel asked and I froze, unsure how to answer her question.

"I-I don't know, I'm sorry," I replied, stuttering on my answer as I stepped into the house.

My eyes scanned the room quickly to see who was here, but my eyes caught something I wished they hadn't. It was quick, so quick I couldn't understand why my eyes had caught it at all. I watched as Eli who was sitting on the couch leaned in and kissed Caylee on the lips.

I'd been friends with Eli since I was a toddler and I knew he most definitely did not kiss girl's he was just friends with me. An array of emotions flooded my body and I had to fight the urge to ball up my fist and storm out of the house. I couldn't understand why I was mad, I never got mad.

Eli's eyes made contact with mine and he walked over to me, leaving Caylee

'Happy birthday' I signed and pushed the present into his hands

'Thank you' he signed with a smile before pulling me into a hug that turned my world upside down.

Something happened when we hugged and it hit me like a stack of bricks being thrown at my face. There was this feeling that I'd never felt before, not Eli, not with anyone actually. It was a connection like the ones you hear about in movies and book but didn't think existed outside of that. It was feeling I wanted to last forever, I never wanted to change from this position, but I knew I had to. His was girlfriend was sitting on the couch and a good majority of my family was nearby and I wanted to keep this one sided connection I had just felt to myself. I loved my family, so much it was impossible to express, but telling one of them was as equal as telling all of them. I pulled away while trying to wipe the terror off my face from seeing Eli in this new unusual light.

'You didn't have to buy me anything' he signed and I shook my head.

'No, because now you have to buy me something next month' I signed teasingly but avoided eye contact with him because I feared he would be able to tell there was something off in my expression.

Caylee bounced her way over to us with such a large smile plastered onto her face it was impossible for me to be mad. She didn't know how I felt because I hadn't known until a moment ago how I really felt. I was jealous of her, yes, and angry at the fact that Eli and I had drifted so much since she came around, but that didn't have anything to do with her as a person.

'It's nice to see you again' she signed happily before hugging me. I hugged her back, trying not to be as stiff as I felt.

'You too' I signed shortly but then added a smile at the end.

'Your family is amazing' she signed and I tried to pay attention to her words but I was far too busy evaluating the differences between me and her.

Her blonde hair and big blue eyes contrasted with my light brunette hair and doe shaped emerald eyes. She was pretty, prettier than me, but I wouldn't let myself dwell on that. She seemed nice but I was far from mean. The only other reason I could think of was that Caylee could understand Eli in a way I could not because she was deaf and I was not. I'd always tried to understand though.

"Ava, can you come over here?" Chloe yelled into the living room with Harley standing directly behind her.

'I'll be right back' I signed and Eli and Caylee nodded in sync, causing a thick feeling in my throat.

As soon as I was close enough to them, Chloe grabbed my arm and forcefully dragged me down the hallway that led to Hazel's bedroom.

"Is that his girlfriend?" Harley whispered although it sounded more like a hiss.

"I think so," I replied and I was actually surprised on how much my own words stung.

This was disastrous. This was the day I denied would ever happen since I was three years old; I was falling for Eli. To an outside it may have sounded romantic, childhood friends falling in love, but there was nothing romantic about one sided feelings. I wanted to scream and yell because I'd never asked for this.

My life plan was just always to remain best friends with Eli, I had never planned to throw romantic interest into the mix, but like always, life had a different plan for me. It wouldn't have been so bad if he didn't have a _girlfriend_.

"Are you okay? You've look like you just seen a ghost," Chloe commented and even though I hadn't planned on sharing my newly found feelings with anyone else, I couldn't hold it inside anymore.

"No," I answered in a shaky voice and Chloe and Harley looked at me sympathetically.

"You like him," Harley asked and it wasn't much of a question. Her dark eyes held a look of knowing as they gazed into mine.

I nodded, afraid for anyone to overhear this conversation, "Please don't say anything," I begged and Chloe and Harley scoffed. '

"Why would we tell anyone?" Chloe asked and I shrugged, "Just stay with us, don't make yourself feel awkward."

I couldn't tell you what conversations I had in the two hours that I was there. I couldn't tell you what I ate or what presents Eli got from other people. The whole day was a daze as if I was watching everyone in fast motion but didn't have the ability to get involved. I couldn't tell you who was all there by the time we left, but I could tell you that every stolen glance I got of Eli and Caylee kissing stabbed my heart with an intensity I couldn't forget.

When we pulled onto our street, my phone burst into a melodic tune, and by the song, I knew it was a message from Kara.

**Wanna go to Bryan's tonight? Josh is going ( ;**

I smiled at the text because the last thing I wanted to do tonight was sit in the house and think of how much a disaster my life was soon going to be.

**Sure, what time? **I texted back and unbuckled Harrison out of his car seat as soon as we pulled into the driveway. I carried him into the house and placed him on the ground just as Kara texted back.

**Be at your house in ten minutes.**

I ran upstairs and changed out of my dress, putting on a simple blue v-neck shirt and a pair of light faded jeans. I brushed over my hair once and applied some vanilla lip gloss before I heard the loud sound of Kara's car horn. I rushed down the stairs, grabbing my purse and shoes on the way.

"I'm leaving, Mom!" I yelled while slipping on the shoes I'd picked up on the way down the stairs.

"With who?" she asked as she appeared from the kitchen with Hope behind her.

"Kara, I'll call you. I love you," I said with a wave before I disappeared out the door and into the rain.

Kara was blasting music and there was a smile on her beautiful pale face when I got into the car. Her red wavy hair was pulled into a side ponytail and she was happily tapping her fingers on her steering wheel to the beat of the song.

"Something happened today," I told her over the blaring music because I needed to talk to someone that wasn't a part of my family.

"And?" she asked interested, lowering the music.

"My friend, my best friend, Eli has a girlfriend and I think-I think I care about him more than a friend," I replied and the words being said out loud felt so weird but then at the same time so right. It made sense; I missed him so much because I wanted him in an entirely new way.

"And you can't say anything because that will just be awkward because he doesn't feel the same?" Kara asked while hitting the nail directly on the head and I nodded, "Listen to me when I say this because it's the best advice for you. Everything will work out if it's meant to, but don't stop your life for him," Kara finished and I found the truth in her words.

"How do I hang out with him? How do I make things normal?" I asked desperately, I wanted step by step instructions on how to live life with this drastic change.

"Take a break from seeing him; you guys don't seem to be hanging out a lot anyways. It will be okay, it won't be awkward forever," she promised, but I didn't believe. Eli was insightful, he'd catch onto the fact that something was wrong eventually, and, oh God, Jordan was like a mind reader, I couldn't step foot near that cabin.

We were in Port Angeles within 30 minutes, Kara driving with a Solace style. We pulled into an apartment building, which I learned both Josh and Bryan lived in. It had stopped raining, the sky cast in a gloomy shades of grey. Kara clicked a number on the intercom before a voice I cleared recognized as Bryan's came through the speaker.

"Who's there?" he asked dumbly because I knew he knew we were coming.

"Kara and Ava, now let us in!" she yelled and I laughed at her dramatic tone.

"You can't come in Kara, only Ava is allowed," Bryan said teasingly and Kara stomped her foot.

"Oh really? Well then I'll just take Ava with me and we'll go hang out with are other friends," she spoke into the intercom and I laughed as I heard Bryan mutter something inaudible.

"You have no other friends," A new voice said, the voice I recognized as Josh's. There was a loud buzzing noise before the door opened and Kara and I ran up the stairs quickly.

She knew what room is was and we walked in without knocking.

"We have friends, Josh," Kara said dragging out Josh's name teasingly as she plopped down on the couch.

"Maybe Ava does, but not you," Josh joked and Kara swung at his arm only for him to move it just in time.

"No, you should feel so blessed that Kara and I pick you two to spend our days with," I said and Josh put his hand over his heart in honor. I laughed loudly and that was something I really liked about hanging out with Josh, his ability to make me laugh even when I'm having a bad day.

My night with them was uneventful but hilarious like it always is. I watched as Kara and Bryan attempted to make a pizza, but the only thing they managed to do was spill cheese all over and get sauce in Kara's hair. While I watched them and noticed that their chemistry for each other was so high I couldn't understand how it had not boiled over yet. Could I ever be like them? Falling for someone that would fall back with me?

"Are you busy next Friday?" Josh asked while Kara and Bryan were playfully arguing in the kitchen.

I shook my head, "Nope," I said popping the 'p' and Josh smiled.

"Do you want to go out," he paused, "with me?" he finished, his nervousness truly adorable.

Kara's words rung in my head as I contemplated what to say. I had fun with Josh and we got along well, what was wrong with going somewhere with him? I wasn't taken or committed to anyone, but Eli's name popped up in my head.

Eli had Caylee and I wouldn't be betraying him by going out with Josh. Eli didn't care for me like that and I didn't know if he ever would. Josh could be that one for me, the one that would actually return my feelings.

_Everything will work out if it's meant to, but don't stop your life for him._

"I'd like that," I answered and I felt better, as if I was making steps in the right directions towards normalcy.

"It's a date," he replied with a smile. It's a date!


	8. The date

**Disclaimer: Any of the characters you recognize from the Twilight series belong to Stephanie Meyer. Any other characters belong to the talented author, yay4shanghai. Her stories are my favorites and you can find her in my favorite authors list on my profile. There are also five other amazing authors doing spin off in yay4shanghai universe; liljenrocks, ari11990, AsagariMelody, Guzhong, and twihardcaligurl, dll10, twilightheart21. **

**A/N: Thank you everyone so much for the reviews! For the people that asked me if I'm doing Eli's POV, I will be doing a chapter is his POV soon. Enjoy!(:**

**Ava's POV**

"_The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are."- Unknown_

Phil and Mark were sitting on the couch attempting to act natural but their anxious glares towards the front door gave them away. It wouldn't matter if Josh was a virgin for life advocator and a volunteer at an orphanage, they despised him because he was bringing their sweet little Ava into the dating world. My mother and I both tried to explain to Phil that I wasn't getting married, just simply going to the movies, but to him, this was equal to the end of the world. I cringed to think of the trouble Hope was going to have getting a boy past him.

I tugged on my necklace which was a silver chain with a diamond filled "A" charm. Annie had given it to him and she claimed it was good luck. Even though I didn't believe in that kind of stuff, I could use whatever luck I could get.

"Could you two at least pretend to look happy? " I asked and Phil shook his head stubbornly.

"You're too young to be dating," Phil replied, saying the word 'dating' with same amount of disgust he used when he spoke of vampires. He was going back to his old demands that we weren't allowed to date until we were in our 30's and was not pleased that I didn't seem to agree.

"Oh come on, you were doing way worse stuff when you were her age!" Chloe said as she fluttered down the stairs. She was ready in full make up and a simple gray dress for her and Harley's secret road trip to Seattle, but she was anxiously waiting to meet Josh before she left.

"I was not," Phil said with wide eyes and Chloe responded with a smirk.

"You're a liar; I bet you weren't even a virgin at fourteen!" Chloe said smugly with her hands on her hips.

"What's a virgin?" Hope asked innocently from Mark's lap and Mark released the laughter that I was sure he'd been holding in since Chloe entered the room.

"Something you'll always be," Phil mumbled under his breath just as the door bell rang. Chloe and I rushed to get to the front door before Phil or Mark did. I got to the door first and opened it with Chloe standing directly behind me.

He looked great. His dark hair laid shaggily over his beautiful ocean blue colored eyes. I smiled and he smiled in response before I moved aside.

"Do you want to come in for a minute? My parents want to meet you," I asked nervously. This was my first date and I wasn't familiar with the normal procedures.

"Sure," he said without any hesitation and I sighed internally in relief.

My mom had came downstairs which I was thankful for because she was the one that could keep Phil in line.

"Hi, you must be Josh," she paused, "I'm Tara," she said and Harrison who was on her hip buried his face shyly in her neck.

"It's nice to meet you," he said sincerely before turning to Chloe, "and you must be Chloe," he said with a quick glance before his eyes darted back to me.

"Yes, I am," Chloe said proudly while giving me a look of approval. She grabbed her huge purse and walked out the door after saying goodbye. I nervously looked over at Phil and Mark who were glaring at Josh with such an intensity of anger that even I was scared.

"This is my dad, Phil, and my Uncle Mark," I said and gave them both a pleadingly look until they changed their facial expressions. Josh extended his hand to each of them before they shook his hand hesitantly. They were obviously disappointed as they waiting for him to do something wrong and he didn't.

"Well, you two should get going, call me when you're on your way home," my mom said and she was right, it would be a good idea to leave before Phil and Mark attacked Josh with questions.

"Your family seems nice," Josh said as the front door shut behind us.

"They all are a little crazy, but I love them," I replied truthfully with a smile.

Our plans were simple ones. We were going out to eat at a little Italian restaurant in Port Angeles before going to see a movie.

I was beginning to love Port Angles. It was a small city, nothing compared to places like Seattle, but there was so much more to do in Port Angeles than in La Push. I didn't remember much about ever living here, but I started to wonder what it would be like to move back in the future.

"I use to live in Port Angeles; did I ever tell you that?" I asked to replace the silence that had filled the car.

"You did? When?" Josh asked interested and took his eyes off the road for a few seconds to look over at me.

"When I was really little, we moved to La Push when my mom met Phil," I explained and watched Josh's face turn into a look of confusion.

"Wait, so Phil isn't…"

"My biological dad? No, he's not," I said softly. I'd never had this conversation with anyone; it was just a known fact in my family that was not brought up. It felt weird to talk about it with outsiders.

"Step dad?" Josh questioned and I thought about it for a minute before shaking my head. Step dad didn't give him enough credit for everything he did.

"Well, no, he adopted me and Chloe, so he is just my dad, minus DNA," I said with a cheeky smile that made Josh laugh softly.

"You're so," he paused and decided what word to use, "happy," he finished.

"Yes, I guess I am," I said with a nonchalant shrug.

The ride to Port Angeles flew by and before I knew it, we were pulling into the parking lot of a small restaurant. It was a bit run down looking on the outside but the aroma coming from the building smelled delicious.

"I know it looks rough, but it's nice," Josh promised and I nodded as we walked towards the entrance door.

Josh slipped his large warm hand into mine. It felt nice and caused me to forget about the overwhelming loneliness that I'd been feeling lately. I wondered what Eli and Caylee's first date was like and was instantly saddened by the fact that I did not know.

The restaurant was dimly lit with red candles on each table. The romantic side of me beamed at the fact that someone would actually want to take me here. The hostess sat us down at a back able which was conveniently isolated from the other costumers.

"How did you find this place?" I asked and I hoped that I wasn't one of the many girls he had brought here before. Josh didn't seem like that type of guy though, so I wasn't very worried.

"My sister and her husband use to come here when they were dating," he explained and I was instantly interested because Josh had never mentioned his family to me before.

"I didn't know you had a sister," I said as the waitress brought over our drinks. Josh was more reserved about things while I was very vocal. If you were around me for ten minutes I was bound to mention Harry, Hope, and Chloe at least once.

"Her name is Jenna, she's 24," Josh paused and pulled out his cell phone, "that's her and my niece, Lauren," Josh said proudly as he showed me a picture a pretty petite brunette and a little girl with curly auburn hair.

"Aww, do they still live in Seattle?" I asked and Josh shook his head sadly.

"No, she moved to San Diego after she had Lauren," Josh said and it made me wonder what it was going to be like when Chloe was hours away from home.

"My sister is moving to LA next year, I don't know what I'm going to do without her," I said honestly with a nervous laugh.

Chloe was opinionated to say the very least and she was not always a delight to handle, but she was my sister, I already was starting to miss her and she was not even gone yet. I couldn't imagine how Amber and Ethan Wahalla, whom we recently visited, went years without seeing their siblings.

"You'll survive, Washington isn't a dream state for many," he said truthfully and I nodded in agreement. There were so many beautiful places in the world, I'd been blessed enough to see a few when I was in Europe, but I knew there were many more. I wondered what it would be like to live in a place like Italy or California, but I had too much in La Push to ever be able to leave happily.

"Where do you want to go?" I asked because his tone made it obvious Washington wasn't his preference.

He shrugged, "I don't know, somewhere warm," he said simply.

"I think that's what everyone wants," I replied with a soft laugh and he laughed with me.

Chloe had told me that first dates were always awkward and that they were never fun. I must have been breaking some kind of dating rule because I didn't feel awkward and the night was going by smoothly. We didn't have any silent moments and I found him even easier to talk to when it was just the two of us.

"Kara said you know sign language," Josh said as the waitress dropped the check off at the table.

"Yeah, my best friend is deaf," I said with no shame or pity. Eli, although I was a bit upset with him, was one of the best people I knew. He didn't need any pity because when it came to Eli, he had nothing to be ashamed of.

"Is it hard?" he asked and I looked at him skeptically, not knowing if he was asking if sign language was hard or having a deaf friend, "sign language," he finished.

I shook my head, "It's just like English to me," I said honestly.

Josh put the tip on the table and stood up, "Show me something in sign language," Josh said and I laughed, this was the typical reaction of people when they knew I was bilingual.

'I really like being with you,' I signed slowly.

"What does that mean?"

"I said I really like being with you," I said nervously, looking down at my hands.

Josh smiled, a big bright smile, "I don't know any cool languages like you, but I really like being with you too," Josh said and relief rushed to my entire body.

We were almost to the door when I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder. I turned around to the smiling faces of Matt and Ben, Eli's close friends from school. I hadn't seen them since the beginning of this school year; I hadn't been invited to hang out with them since Caylee came around. I wondered if they noticed my sudden absence from Eli's life.

'Hi Ava, where have you been?' Matt signed quickly but fluidly. I guess he did notice that I hadn't been around.

'Hello. Around, working a lot,' I signed and Matt nodded understandingly but Ben looked at me oddly, he'd always been an excellent reader of people.

'Do you know where Eli is?' Ben asked, jumping into the conversation.

I shook my head, 'No, I haven't talked to him in a few days,' I signed honestly. It had been exactly two days since we communicated at all.

'You haven't?' Matt signed with a shocked expression on his face. It was a known fact that before Caylee, Eli and I didn't go longer than an hour without some sort of communication. I kept trying to tell myself this was bound to happen, our lives had to cross different paths at some point in time.

'No, but if I do, I'll tell him you asked about him.' I signed and they both nodded.

'Have a nice night Ava,' Ben signed and Matt nodded to Josh as they disappeared back into the restaurant.

"You can actually understand all of that?" Josh asked amazed and I laughed, sign language was far from anything awe worthy.

"It looks a lot harder than it actually is," I explained just as a rush of cold air hit me in the face. It was the middle of October and the temperatures had already begun to drastically drop. We walked to his car with our hands laced together. It was starting to snow, leaving the ground with a light white coat. Harrison must have been thrilled, he loved the snow immensely. By the time I got into his car, I had snowflakes all in my hair and on my exposed skin above my chest.

"You look like a snow angel," Josh teased and I laughed, leaning my head back against the head rest.

Our eyes connected and the intensity in his blue eyes caused me to shyly look away but I instantly regretted it once I did. I silently wondered what it would be like to kiss Josh, his thick lips looked appetizing. I'd had kissed before, Ryan Beckley, the brother of a girl I use to take ballet with. It was sweet and innocent, I was barely twelve. Kissing Josh seemed more serious though, as if a kiss with Josh could change the direction of my life. The thought sounded appealing, but my best friend's name flashed repeatedly through my mind.

Eli. What would it be like to kiss Eli?

If anyone would have asked me that question two months ago, I would have laughed hysterically at the idea. It didn't make sense to me that one day I seen him as my friend and then the next, I had to force myself to let go of him after a hug, I guess I'll never know what triggered these feeling.

I took my mind off of Eli because it wasn't fair to either of them. Eli was happy and even though I hadn't witnessed it, I knew he was doing well with Caylee. I wouldn't interfere with is happiness, he deserved happiness. Josh was a sweetheart, something I seen even more of tonight, so why was I thinking of what I couldn't have instead of the possibility of something great that was directly in front of me?

We pulled into the parking lot of the movie theater around nine o'clock and surprisingly, the movie theater was remotely empty for a Friday night.

"What movie do you want to see?" Josh asked as we approached the ticket booth.

"Whatever you want to see."

"Well, you didn't seem to like the vampire movie very much," he paused, "Is something mystery okay with you?" he asked and I nodded in approval.

The movie Josh picked was titled "The Missing" and told the story of a missing seventeen year old and the obstacles her father took in finding her. It was interesting, but I probably would have had more of an opinion on it if I hadn't been staring at the way mine and Josh's hands looked together. I was disappointed when the credits of the movie started to roll because I knew my night out with Josh was coming to an end. I hadn't had so much fun in weeks and I was beginning to realize a night out was exactly what I needed.

"Thank you for taking me out," I said softly to him as we drove on the familiar curvy roads of La Push. I leaned my head gently against the window and gazed at Josh and then the woods that surrounded us.

"It was my pleasure," Josh said and I smiled instinctively.

"Do you like living on the rez?" he asked and it was the typical question people asked me but Josh seemed honestly interested in what my answer would be. I liked that about Josh; he listened so intently to everything I said. Having a sister as an upcoming top model and constantly surrounded my supernaturally beautiful woman, I wasn't used to being the center of attention, but the change was welcomed.

"I stick out like a sore thumb sometimes, but its nice being close to all my family," I answered honestly. Living in La Push was like being a part of an exclusive group that I was thrilled to be a member of.

It wasn't until Josh pulled into my driveway that I realized how sad I was that our night was ending. It was fun, an escape from the sadness I'd been feeling recently. I didn't want our night to end but the rational part of me knew it had to.

"Can we do this again?" I asked softly as the car came to a final stop. I felt as if my heart was going to beat out of my chest as I anxiously awaited his answer.

"Of course," Josh replied and I felt my heart return to its normal pace. His blue eyes sparked in a way I never noticed before in the darkness and I was suddenly enthralled at the idea of what kissing him would be like. How would his perfectly pouty lips feel against mine? I felt desire at a level I was unfamiliar with and I mustered all the courage I had in my body to slowly lean into him.

His welcoming lips had a distinct citrusy taste to them that tasted absolutely amazing. It was a simple and sweet kiss, no tongue, or swapping saliva, but it left my body with a tingly feeling of passion. I pulled away hesitantly from his warm and relaxing lips only because I was sure that Mark and Phil were probably hiding in the bushes somewhere.

"Goodnight, Ava," he whispered and he stole a quick kiss off me that left me with a feeling of ecstasy as I got out of the car and walked towards the door. Although tonight had been one of the best nights I'd had in awhile there was a nagging voice in the back of my mind that refused to go away saying: He is not who he is supposed to be.


	9. Happy birthday to me

**Disclaimer: Any of the characters you recognize from the Twilight series belong to Stephanie Meyer. Any other characters belong to the talented author, yay4shanghai. Her stories are my favorites and you can find her in my favorite authors list on my profile. There are also five other amazing authors doing spin off in yay4shanghai universe; liljenrocks, ari11990, AsagariMelody, Guzhong, and twihardcaligurl, dll10, twilightheart21. **

**A/N: I'm so sorry about the wait! I've been so busy lately, but I will try to get chapters coming faster now that summer is coming. **

**Ava's POV**

_It's hard to pretend you love someone when you don't. _

_ But it's harder to pretend you don't love someone when you really do.  
_**December 11th 2045**

"Harrison, be quite!" Hope whispered in an exasperated tone to Harrison.

"Why are we scaring her? It's her birthday; we supposed to be nice to her!" Harrison yelled confused and I smiled at his adorable theory. I was fifteen today and although fifteen wasn't much different than fourteen, no birthdays were ever ignored in my house.

In the last few weeks things had gotten better, not great or perfect just yet, but better. After a long talk with Chloe after my first kiss with Josh, she explained to me that Josh didn't have to be Eli. Eli had a girlfriend and if I wasted my time waiting around for him, I could lose the good thing I had in front of me. He was sweet, something I realized as we spent more and more time together, but sometimes I wondered; what would this be like if with Eli? Even though I knew I couldn't control these feelings that I'd condemned to the back of my mind, I still felt immense guilt over it. It was my birthday and what I wanted most was one stress and guilt free day, which I hoped on having today.

I kept my eyes shut for Hope and Harrison's benefit as the door squeaked, signaling their entrance. I felt two equally tiny bodies jump on my bed and they both burst out into laughter.

"Happy birthday, Ava!" they both yelled and I opened my eyes before smiling happily at the two. Harrison hugged me and I kissed his adorable face repeatedly.

"How old are you?" Harrison asked and Hope sat down on the edge of the bed with her legs crossed.

"Fifteen," I said proudly because in my ears, it did sound better than fourteen.

Harrison's crystal emerald eyes, identical to Phil's, widened, "You're so old, sissy!" he squealed before bursting into child like giggles.

"Oh, I know," I agreed teasingly as he extended his arms up for me to pick him up. As soon as we reached the hall way, the sweet smell of French toast invaded my nose. I heard my mom and Phil talking softly below us, but it was way too quiet for Chloe to be up. She'd had a long night, leaving with Sebastian around one in the morning and not returning via window until after seven.

"Happy birthday Angel," Phil said and kissed my forehead lovingly. He'd been there for every birthday since my fourth and always spoiled Chloe and me completely rotten. He was my dad for all intents and purposes, a fantastic one too, but my birthdays always made me think of a certain man by the name of Nicholas Ambrosia. Did he know what today was? Did he remember that exactly fifteen years ago to this day that his daughter that he never tried to know was born? He probably didn't and although I didn't need him, it still hurt.

"Thanks Dad," I replied as Harrison squirmed in my arms, demanding silently to be put down. He ran happily into the living room where I could hear him pushing his toy car around that Solace had bought him.

"Eli texted you," Hope said as she strolled into the kitchen with my cell phone in her tiny hand. Her words caused my heart to accelerate at a rate that couldn't be healthy. The length of time from the last time I'd spoke to him was unknown, making any communication with him important.

_Happy Birthday Ava!_ The text was small, so insignificant, but it made me smile bigger than I had all day. We were on our way to becoming distant "best friends", so I was just grateful that he'd remembered today.

_Thank you Eli, I miss you_. The last part of the message was unintentionally said, my fingers typing the words out before I could even comprehend what I was saying. I did miss him, in so many ways I didn't even know where to beginning elaborating. I missed his sarcasm, sweetness, and having someone I trusted knowing all the details of my life. Things were different now; we'd lost that connection, he didn't know about my feelings for Josh and I didn't know anything about Caylee.

I'd seen this happen before with Sammy and Addison. They went from best friends, to friends, to acquaintances to where they were now, nothing. He started dating Selina, she started hanging out with new people, and their friendship slowly but surely evaporated into nothing. Eli and I were on the same path even though we promised each other something like that would never happen to us.

_Me too, want to come over tonight?_ Even though it was my birthday, I hadn't made many plans for today. If Chloe ever rose from her alcohol induced slumber, our plans were to go to lunch and shopping in Port Angeles, and besides that, the rest of my day was free.

Kara, Bryan, and Josh were all working, catering a luxurious wedding in Seattle that I would be at too if Annie hadn't gave me the day off as a birthday present. All three of them had promised to take me out tomorrow for a delayed birthday celebration and if Kara had anything to do with the planning, it would certainly be an eventful night. Thinking about Josh, who has been nothing but sweet to me, made me feel guilty for being so excited about Eli texting me. We would never be what I wanted, but we'd been friends for a decade, it was natural to want to keep that alive.

_As long as you're not busy_, I texted and then came back into reality and out of my cellular world.

"Do you want your presents now or later?" my Mom asked me as she placed a plate full of French toast on our kitchen table.

"Now, please," I said, the inner child in me speaking up. My mom nodded with a smile before disappearing up the stairs and returning with a small pile of gifts neatly wrapped in yellow wrapping paper.

The present that was a small square box was on the top so I grabbed it first. Harrison sat on my lap with eager eyes as I tore apart the paper. Underneath the wrapping paper was a blue box with a silver ring with my name engraved in the center with two tiny sapphires on each side of my name.

"The ring was all Harrison's idea," my mom cooed loudly and I kissed my baby brother's forehead loudly.

"Thank you so much, I love it," I said and he squealed happily, slipping the ring on my finger before I went to grab the next present.

The next present which was from Phil and my mom was a new Dolce and Gababna purse with a hundred dollars stuffed inside it. Hope's present, the most theatrical of them all, a gold fish she'd already named 'squishy' for me. Beneath all the wrapping was a pink envelope and I picked it up gingerly.

"Who is this from?" I asked no one in particular and no one answered me.

"I think it's from your Nona," my mom said while looking away. I gave her a skeptical look before tearing the seal off. It was a regular hallmark birthday card with a sweet saying on cover but when I opened it, expecting a 20 dollar bill to fall out, a folded piece of purple paper did instead.

Dear Ava,

Whenever December comes around, I think of my sweet grandbaby that is growing up so fast I wonder where the years went. You're fifteen now and I'm sure you're transforming into the beautiful woman that I know you'll be, but I'm saddened that I cannot see that transformation. Pictures do not do enough justice. So for this birthday, I'm giving you a present that is actually more of a present to me than you. It's an airplane ticket, not to anywhere as beautiful as your last adventure to Milan, but to Louisiana. It's a round trip, starting on the day of your winter break begins and leaving a day before you are to return to school. I know you love your family on the reservation and spending the holidays without them may seem impossible, but spending a week with my little A is exactly what I need. I hope to see you.

Love,

Nona

"You don't have to go," Phil said nervously as soon as he realized my eyes had reached the bottom of the page. I'd never been away from home for longer than a day; I suffered from what I called 'family' sickness instead of the typical homesickness. Even as a very small child I'd never gone to any of the dance camps, too afraid to be apart from my mom for that long. This opportunity though, a peaceful vacation to see my lovely Nona, was something I could not pass up. I needed to clear my mind and talk to someone that wasn't associated with the pack and my Nona was famous for her amazing advice.

"I want to go," I said and my mother looked shocked but happy with my answer.

"Oh Ava, this will mean so much to her," she said before hugging me tightly. We called my grandmother and hearing the pure excitement in her voice reassured me that I had made the right decision in going. I grabbed my phone while I ran up the stairs to take a shower.

_Are you in Seattle, yet?_ I asked, sending the text to Josh. After showering I grabbed my phone to see if he texted back.

_Almost, I wish you were here._ He said and his words made a smile form on my face. Josh had an unintentionally habitat of always making me smile. He truly was perfect, the only flaw he had was that my desire for him was not as high as the one I had for Eli.

I wished it could be different and prayed it would change. I didn't want to hurt Josh, he was too nice and the thought of hurting him because of my confused feelings made me want to cry. I felt guilty for pinning after someone else's boyfriend and secretly wishing that they would just break up, so much for my guilt free day.

_I'm going to Louisiana next week for break. _I knew he'd be happy for me. He loved hearing me talk about my adventures in Italy (although I conveniently left out the story of finding my Uncle's hidden son) and this would be a new adventure.

_For what?_

_To see my Nona,_ I texted back and thinking about it again made me excited. It had been years since I last saw her, the day Harrison was born to be exact.

_That will be fun, how is your birthday going? _Josh had been the first one to wish me happy birthday, calling my phone at midnight to do so.

_It's good_. And will be better once I'm with Eli, I thought.

I took extra time in getting ready which I cursed myself for. I put a small amount of hair gel and my strawberry scented hairspray which added a little boost my already naturally wavy hair. I searched through my overly stuffed closet for my favorite pair of dark jeans and a pink light long sleeved stripped shirt. After applying mascara and a thin coat of clear sticky lip gloss, I was happy with my appearance so I walked over into Chloe's room and laughed at what I saw. Chloe was sleeping with a blanket over her head but her hair was sticking out of the top. The lights were off and she'd even gone as far as to put a blanket over her window to block out the rare light the sun would bring.

"Oh Chloe," I sang out and flipped the light switch on. She groaned and she peeped her head out from underneath the blanket.

"What do you want, Ava?" she mumbled before propping her head up on her elbow.

"How was your night?" I asked her as I sat down on the bed next to her.

"Eventful, you should have came," she said before placing her hand on her forehead, "Do they knew I left?" she whispered and I shook my head.

"Thank god," she paused, "but you look pretty, where are you going?"

"Eli's," I attempted to say nonchalantly but my tone must have given me away because Chloe beamed at me like a child on Christmas morning.

"Eli's, huh? You are going in for the kill today?" she asked, nearly bouncing in her spot. My eyes widened as she referred to my love life as 'going in for the kill'.

"No, of course not! He has a girlfriend and I just want to be friends with him," I stumbled on my words which were the biggest lies to ever to come out of my mouth.

Chloe burst into a hysterical fit of uncontrollable laughter, "You're such a liar," she said before getting up and walking towards her bathroom, "Are we still going to PA?" she asked and I nodded as she disappeared into the bathroom. She reemerged an hour later in full makeup dazzling in a pair of pink heels and skin tight jeans.

Besides Eli, Chloe was my best friend. She was a gift from God in my eyes because we always understood each other. We'd both dealt with the struggles of being accepted in La Push and the abandonment of our biological father. It was times like this, when we just sat in the car and talked, I seriously wondered what I was going to do without her next year.

We decided to eat at a little Chinese restaurant on the pier. As soon as we got to our sit, I heard a vibration in my purse. I pulled my phone out and expected a message from either Josh or Kara but I was pleasantly surprised by who the sender was.

_I have a surprise for you(; _ Eli said.

His text was the cause for me to chow down my orange chicken at an inhuman rate and have a difficult time concentrating on anything Chloe was saying. She talked of Sebastian, Harley, Maddie, and bubble gum flavored vodka. She must not have noticed that my mind wasn't there because she happily continued telling story after story about her glamorous life.

"Ready to go?" she asked and I jumped eagerly causing her to giggle.

"Wow, someone is in love," Chloe giggled but I disagreed mentally. Love in my mind required two people who felt the same.

The drive to Port Angles seemed to drag on for hours. Chloe and I kept a conversation going about apartment she'd seen online for Los Angeles and I told her about my upcoming trip to see Nona. When we pulled into Eli's driveway, it took everything in me not to run to the front door.

"Have fun baby sister," Chloe taunted through the rolled down window as she pulled out of the driveway. I walked up to the porch and rang the doorbell where I was greeted by Hazel and Jordan.

"Hello Ava," Jordan said smoothly just as Hazel ran up beside him.

"Happy birthday!" Hazel yelled at the same time and I laughed in response.

"Thank you, princess," I said and they both moved over in the doorway to let me in.

Although I had not been to the Uley-Varn cabin in a couple weeks, I remembered everything to the tee and nothing had changed at all.

"Happy birthday, Ava," I familiar voice said and I turned my head to see Addison Ateara sitting on the couch with Eli. I smiled widely at both of them before Addison stood up to hug me.

"Thank you," I said softly but was dying to touch Eli who had stood up after him.

This was wrong, so incredibly wrong!

'Happy birthday' he signed and I almost screamed in joy when he wrapped his arms around me to hug me. He was so warm and his fresh scent made me relax in a way I hadn't in weeks. Although being with Josh was great, no hug from him every caused these kind of reaction. I instantly envied Caylee for getting to be with him like this every day.

'Thank you. Where's my surprise? You bought me a car, right?' I signed teasingly and he chuckled.

'Oh yes, let me go get your keys' he signed back and then held up his finger to signal he was going to get the surprise.

"How's Selina?" I asked Addison and he flashed me a sympathetic look which confused me before answering.

"She's great," he said and although he looked happy, his answered felt forced for an unknown reason.

Eli walked out of the room with a small box in his hand. He handed it to me with an excited smile and it didn't matter if there was a snail in the box because it was from him and I would treasure it. Luckily for me though, the box didn't reveal a snail or any other creepy crawly creature. It was a silver necklace that I'd pointed out months ago while shopping for Chloe's birthday present with him. It was a silver heart necklace with seven birthstones; my mom's, Chloe's, Hope's, Phil's, Harrison's, Eli's, and mine. My heart was warmed at the fact that he had remembered the necklace after months and took the time to get it personalized to fit my family. It was the best present I'd gotten all day.

'You remembered' I signed in awe as Addison's loud fast upbeat ring tone sent him out of the room.

'I told you someone would get it for you eventually' he signed with a smile that made my heart hammer out of my chest. I thanked God he wasn't a wolf because if he was, he'd probably think I was going to die.

If I was brave like the girl's in movies, or like my sister, I would have kissed him. I wouldn't have thought twice about Caylee, Josh, or Addison who was talking on the phone in the other room. I wasn't a character of a movie though, and even though this was the perfect scene for a perfect first kiss, I couldn't force myself to lean into him. Though, that would have been the best birthday gift of all.

'Thank you, thank you so much' I signed and I felt the tears well up in my eyes. Having everything I wanted right in front of my eyes but so far out of reach was simply torturous.

Addison came back into the room a few minutes later with his phone in his hand. He sat down on the other side of the couch while Eli stood up to get a movie out of the overly stocked library. He came back into the room a few minutes later with a mystery movie that I didn't catch the title off. He started the movie with the subtitles already set. I felt my eyes started to get droopy as the movie progresses; I always fell asleep during movies. I leaned my head on his shoulder, using Eli as my personal pillow had been a habit I'd had since we were little.

As I desperately tried to keep my attention on the movie I wondered to myself, would anything in life ever feel as right as this did?


End file.
